Knights of Badassdom

Knights Of Badassdom exists in a mystical confluence, equal parts Monty Python & The Holy Grail, Animal House, Galaxy Quest and Friday 13th but never quite rises to the brilliance of its forebears.

Having just been dumped by his girlfriend, wannabe doom metal singer Joe (True Blood's Ryan Kwanten) is 'kidnapped' by his two best friends - hardcore LARPers Eric (Steve Zahn) and Hung (Game Of Thrones' Peter Dinklage) - to the site of their next big event, The Battle Of Evermore.

Joe is reluctantly talked into joining the Live Action Role Playing game - helped by the presence of the lovely Gwen (Firefly's Summer Glau) - but, unfortunately, in his quest for authenticity Eric has purchased a magical tome off eBay that turns out to be a long lost book belonging to the famous Elizabethan sorcerer John Dee.

When Eric reads a page at random as a mock spell, he unknowingly summons a succubus from Hell that proceeds to feed on the souls of the LARPers.

Soon after that Joe and Gwen realise that people are dying for real and take up arms to strike back at the monstrous demon and try to save their friends.

Knights Of Badassdom starts very promisingly, with plenty of loving nods to both LARPing and Dungeons & Dragons (this certainly isn't a mockery of geeks), but once the horror aspect enters the mix, the film doesn't really know where to go.

Now, I'm pretty certain that I read a ways back that this release of the film was not the director's vision of the story but a cut put together by the producers. This might explain the feeling that after a while the story is just spinning its wheels.

What starts off as belly-laughing funny (very much in the style of The Big Bang Theory, but with more swearing) that had me thinking this might one day equal The Holy Grail as geeks' go-to game quote movie eventually lapses into mildly amusing, by-the-numbers fare.

There are plot holes a-plenty and a lot of undeveloped characters (for instance, what was the deal with the redneck paint-ballers and their major hate-on for the LARPers? Outside of explaining why the police didn't turn up at the camp site when the slaughter began, they were totally redundant to the plot), which again suggests to me to retrospective re-cutting of the film for whatever reason, making do with what footage was on-hand.

Don't get me wrong, it's good and certainly clever in parts, but there's an inescapable feeling that it could have been much better. There are some great characters, and great "in-story" world-building by the LARPers, but it all degenerates into a big slug-fest with a rubber-suit monster.

Depending on your mood - and your attitude to random absurdity in movies - the climax of Knights Of Badassdom will either have you smirking at its ridiculousness or reaching for the remote control to turn off the television.

It's such a shame because I genuinely believe this could have been - if done right - a cult classic. As it is, I fear it will simply be swept under the carpet as a missed opportunity and promptly forgotten about.

Of course, the film's biggest mistake: not enough Dinklage.

Rarely do immature comedies get approval or good ratings. There are a few: Dumb and Dumber or There's Something About Mary….or anyone of Will Farrell's movies. But perhaps viewers take themselves too seriously. This film is centered around a LARP (live action role-playing game) battleground where characters do often take themselves seriously in some sense. Often costumes are makeshift and battle scenes are amateurish. Authenticity is mixed since imagination takes precedence. The movie takes the same approach, hence, the goofy dragon and monster from hell. Peter Dinklage as Hung is a fun, atypical hero and Summer Glau is slinky as Gwen (isn't every medieval female lead named Gwen, short for Guinevere?). Watch it for fun, light humor. It is funny, geeky and goofy. The subtitles are cute/creative, direction is average, acting is average (actors usually shouting), script is good at times, flat at other times and some gag just doesn't work. It's a slightly above average comedy but you have to appreciate the geekiness and lightness of the film. I'd give it a 6.2-6.3 rating…round off to a 7 just to counter the critics. Just unserious fun to bring a smile and chuckle but maybe not for everyone.

If you enjoyed "Zero Charisma" then chances are that you will also like "Knights of Badassdom". And, of course, if you are a super geeky LARP enthusiast, then you will definitely enjoy this movie. As a player of Dungeons & Dragons, but with no possible interest or understanding in the LARP thing, then I still found the movie to be enjoyable.

The story is about a bunch of geeks coming together in the forest for a weekend endeavor of LARP (Live Action Role-Playing) when an in-game sorcerer accidentally unleashes a succubus into the mortal world. Things quickly turn bloody and foam-weapons need to be exchanged for steel.

There are some really fun and inside references to everything nerdy in aspects of being a roleplaying game enthusiast; such as the Manowar and King Diamond references. Not to mention the namedropping of various monsters and races from the Monster Manual. Those who play D&D will surely pick up on those throughout the movie.

Despite the movie's budget, then director Joe Lynch actually managed to put together a fun and enjoyable movie. The storyline was geeky, yes, but it was nice and fun to watch. And despite the nerdy geekness, then the storyline was actually very entertaining.

It should also be said that the movie had some nice talents to it, and people did great jobs with their given roles and characters (in every sense of the word). And the actors and actresses really helped the movie along quite nicely.

The effects in the movie were quite alright as well, and the demonic version of the succubus was actually quite cool, looking like something of a mixture between (and here comes one of those things only RPG nerds will understand) Tanar'ri, Baatezu and a gremlin from the "Gremlins" movies.

"Knights of Badassdom" is well worth watching if you are into roleplaying games, LARPing, or if you just had a geeky nerd hidden somewhere in your heart.

As much as I detest LARPing, then I tried not to let that color my impression of the movie. For its entertainment value, then I am rating "Knights of Badassdom" 6 out of 10 stars.

This movie follows a group of live action role players on the day of their big game. Except that someone has a spell book that's real, and they accidentally summon a demon who is killing them off one by one. This was goofy fun. The breakout character was Ronnie, the over the top gamemaster. It's pretty low rent, but I would watch it again.

OK, if you were expecting Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones.... did you even watch the trailer? This was meant to be on the same level as Army of darkness (Good ol' Bruce) and Role Models. I find most of the complaints of the other reviewers shine more negative light on them than the movie.

Why do the rednecks hate the nerds? If you've made it to middle school, you already know the answer to this question. And yet someone presented this as if it was a major plot hole. :roll: Why does the one nerd know a dead language? If you know any nerds, you know the answer to this question. Most the reviewers here seem to be more "nerdy" than any of the "nerds" in the film.

In the end, most of the "flaws" the other reviewers complain of fall into these two categories: A) you didn't realize its SUPPOSED to be a B-flick or B) you're playing dumb to miss the obvious social interactions that most people live with from grade school on up.

Now, for the movie itself: yes the effects are B level. And not bad, if you expect that. The plot is kinda simple. Not only is that normal for a B flick, and indie films on the whole, there isn't too much you can do in a film thats supposed to cover a weekend. you get enough "character development" to care who dies, and not much more. "Gone with the Wind" this ain't, nor was it intended to be. Dinkle had to shoot this during the short break from his real gig. Many of the others had similar constraints.

If you want a funny, Saturday afternoon waster, this is great. Its even better if you LARP or some sort of reenactor, and can point out people you know like (X).