Knights of Badassdom

LARP's on a lark get chewed up and spit out for laughs in "Knights of Badassdom" (BTW: a terrible title!). The elaborate medieval role players are nothing but gore fodder, the production values are surprisingly high (the costumes are brilliant) and one of my favorite actresses (Summer Glau) is a highlight as she vamps it up in a pretty-good bad movie. This movie is made to order for Riff Trax, or just gather your nerdiest friends for a night of (deliberately) cringe-worthy dialogue and as fine a rednecks vs. nerds battle as has ever been filmed.

I would compare this movie to "Sharknado" in that both give the impression of being movies that were originally written as serious genre films (disaster and horror respectively) and someone had the sense to make them so over the top as to become entertaining camp.

I thought I would watch 5 minutes and then turn it off, ended up watching the whole thing. It was a very odd movie overall, and probably takes the right mindset to enjoy. Basically take a movie with the plot described, but written by high schoolers. Then give them some decent actors, a decent director and a decent film crew. Then have the high schoolers make sure they include the "good" stuff and you pretty much have this movie. So it is a weird hodge podge of decent B-movie, with some A-actors, and a high school film project. I enjoyed it, even if it wasn't great and at times pretty uneven. BTW there is quite a bit of blood and gore, but it isn't super graphic despite that.

There's something refreshing about a film that is only made for a certain, small audience. They usually know precisely what they are, and therefore the audience ends up enjoying themselves all that much more when they watch it. But every once and a while, there are movies of the sort that have so much potential and yet the end up squandered and falling short. While not the complete case here, "Knights of Badassdom" definitely needed another draft or two on its script. As much as I wanted to love this movie, I just couldn't. At least, not fully.

"Knights of Badassdom" is about a group of friends whom, after one of the three getting dumped by his girlfriend, go to a LARP festival for the weekend to get his mind off her. What is LARPing? Live-action-role- playing. Imagine a bunch of dudes in armour and robes with foam weapons playing out scenarios from Dungeons and Dragons. This alone was enough to get me interested in the film. I've always considered attending one of these events, if just for the experience. The money and passion some people put into this stuff is out of this world. And even the most anti- fantasy person could get down with swinging around a sword of any type against other people without consequence. It taps into a child-like imagination that I think really ups the enjoyment in the film for me. Had this been any other type of event where the plot happened, I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much I think.

The second things that got me into wanting to watch this knight's tale is the cast. "Game of Thrones"' Peter Dinklage (who also produces this film) and Summer Glau of "Firefly" and "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" (two of my favourite TV shows) are both featured. No matter what these two do, I'll always watch it. And they are without a doubt the best parts of the movie. Not just from a fan-based perspective, but they have the two most interesting characters in my opinion. Dinklage is an accidental millionaire who is a regular attendee and enthusiast of LARPing, while Summer Glau plays chaperone to her hardcore LARPing cousin whom she watches after, due to him having a mental disability. Quite touching for a movie that didn't really require any emotional depth to the characters, but it's highly welcomed and appreciated that the film actually took this next step and made it more logical for a drop-dead gorgeous woman to attend something like this. Not to say LARP women can't be attractive, it's just in media, the stereotype works against that.

So how is the acting in the film? Well, it's hit and miss. Some characters are great, others aren't. Our main hero is Joe; a heavy-metal singing guy who just wants to live a normal life, despite his eccentric friends. Actor Ryan Kwanten does him decently, but his characters archetype is so clichéd that I can't help but barely care for him. I don't know if he didn't do as great of a job because of the weak nature his portions of the script were, or because Kwanten himself just isn't that great an actor. Either way, mediocre to say the least. For me, the biggest disappointment was Steve Zahn as Eric, the most dedicated of the company. I like Zahn in what I've seen him in, especially the highly underrated (in my opinion) "A Perfect Getaway". Here, however, his character was flat, annoying and expendable. I think this fault is more on the writers and director Joe Lynch, as whenever Eric makes a joke it always falls flat and I wind up hoping for his scenes to end.

The two final things I want to address here are the special effects and the climax. I feel like with a film like this, it's important to point out how impressed I was with these elements. The special effects are almost all practical, with a little bit of low-quality CGI. However that kind of works with the half-assed nature of LARPing and the characters costumes in general, so I can run with it. In the end of the film, there is a giant monster that goes on a killing spree. And I was so joyed to see it was rubber suit. Too many low-budget horror films use almost all their spendings on terrible CG to make their creatures, or they try to make sure the monster is in the film, but just rarely or never show it to "add mystery". It's so refreshing to see this art has not completely died out. Considering the nature of this film, I think they nailed this perfectly. Also, the climax of this film is great. It's a fun little field battle, speeches and all. The comical nature of legions of grown people waving foam swords around had me thoroughly entertained and I think it was the best part of the whole film. Also, the way the monster is defeated completely lives up to the title of 'badassdom' and is one of my favourite film kills as of late.

In the end, I didn't completely love nor hate "Knights of Badassdom". I'll say it was worth the watch, but I'm unsure whether I'd buy it. Maybe if I saw it for $5, as Dinklage and Glau definitely add rewatchability to it and the overall premise is amusing. Not as good as it could have been, but it didn't fail in its purpose either. Now, if these knights select to go on a second quest, I would most certainly accompany them once more.

Do you people ever just watch a movie and enjoy it without analyzing the crap out of it? I thought this movie was fun and entertaining, despite it not being THE GRAETEST MOVIE EVAR MADE. "Oh no, the effects aren't perfect." "Waah.. they didn't have a $100million budget" "OMFG there's a plot hole in the 23rd minute of the 2nd act!!" I keep seeing reviews that say "Oh, I was EXPECTING such and such, and it didn't deliver". Stop creating expectations based on a 2-minute trailer. Just try watching a movie for fun and turn off your brain... This movie is actually pretty funny if you know LARPers. Summer Glau is super-hot, as always. I really enjoyed how they would build up mega-drama with the music and dialoge, and then turn it off instantly and it's back to Nerdville -- I thought that was clever. Make some popcorn and watch this, just make sure to take the stick out of your arse first..

It's not as bad as some of the reviews make it out. But you do have to be a geek at heart.

You don't have to be a LARPer necessarily, but you do have to know a little about the culture. There are a lot of jokes and references that if you know nothing about roll play, LARP or just general geekdom, they will pass you by.

So yeah its not for everyone, but it is funny and the actors all put in exceptional performances for what it is.

It's not meant to be a block buster CG extravaganza, so don't expect a block buster action horror and you will enjoy it.

But again, if you know nothing about geek culture this will go right over your head.

Great performances by all, need to say that again.