Imagine for a moment, you’re walking through your local Walmart.
You’ve already picked up that special prescription ointment you need from the pharmacy, and now you’re just checking out the movie section. You walk past what seems like an endless stream of movies with James Franco in them. That’s when you notice it. A DVD cover with Peter “The Mother@#$!%#! Halfman” Dinklage and Summer “Sexy Robot” Glau dressed in what seems to be Renaissance Fair armor. Also there are explosions, men in monkey suits, monsters, and a dude in a wicked headband. You frantically snatch the movie off the shelf.
How is it possible you didn’t know this movie existed? You immediately start screaming at the nearest Walmart associate. “HOW LONG HAS THIS MOVIE BEEN HERE?!” The elderly woman in the blue vest you just verbally assaulted responds, “I don’t know, sir. Also, please don’t yell at me.”
You then throw your wallet at her and run out of the store as fast as your feet will take you.
That is basically how I reacted when I first set eyes on Knights of Badassdom. On the surface, it seemed like a totally epic thrill ride. Most times when you have such lofty expectations for movie you end up disappointed, but this time I ended up liking the movie even more than I thought I would. It’s a movie about nerds, by nerds, for nerds. Its concept says it all.
A group of friends who’ve spent their playing Dungeons & Dragons and LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) accidentally summon a succubus from hell, and then team up to do for real what they’ve spent years pretending to do. Joe (Ryan Kwanten) is a doom metal musician/mechanic who has his life thrown into disarray when he is dumped by his high school sweet heart. His best friends Eric (Steve Zahn) and Hung (Peter Dinklage) decide that the best way to cheer up their buddy is to bring him back to his nerdy roots. They do this by kidnapping him to the magical kingdom of Evermoore. Evermoore is a weekend LARPing event that is to be concluded by a huge war. There they meet up with their guildmates Lando (Danny Pudi), Gwen (Summer Glau), and Gunther (Brett Gipson and Tom Hopper). However, things quickly get weird after a succubus that looks like Joe’s ex-girlfriend is summoned with the unintentional use of real magic.
Then there’s blood.
So very much blood.
Also, cool monsters, magic mushrooms, and I think a magical Dinklage. Awesome, right?
On top of all of the already established awesomeness, the special effects are done by the always wonderful Spectral Motion. If you’re thinking you don’t know who Spectral Motion is, you’re probably wrong. You may not know the name, but you’ve likely seen more than one of the films they’ve done the special effects for. They were responsible for things like Attack the Block, Hellboy, Hellboy II: the Golden Army, Blade Trinity, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Pacific Rim, Fanatic Four, and many more terrific movies.
All the cool gore and effects aside, Knights of Badassdom’s greatest asset is its sincerity.
A lot of times when a movie focuses heavily on an obscure or misunderstood part of Nerd Culture, like live action roleplaying, it can come off like they’re making fun of or misrepresenting it. However, this movie never seems to poke fun at its subject; in fact it actually seems to represent LARPing and those who enjoy dressing up in homemade armor quite honestly. The humor doesn’t rely on the audience laughing at the nerds on the screen, but rather with them. The movie asks a question that LARPers and really a lot of people probably ask themselves on a regular basis.
Which one of these two lives are the real me? My everyday self or this other thing I only get to be on weekends?
I mean think about it, for some of us, going to a grey office every day and making small talk with some boring dude named Kent feels more like pretending then wearing cardboard armor and kicking ass. Am I the accountant with a wife and kids, or am I Uvane the great and terrible necromancer? Am I just a middle school teacher, or a hardcore rapper named Noticeably F.A.T? Am I a physical therapist and boring stepmom, or a regional Pokémon Trading Card Game champion?
This movie really embraces the concept of people going to great lengths to escape for just a little while, and it does it with tangible excitement. This movie made me want to go out and try LARPing. Any time a movie makes me want to go out and try something new, I count it as something pretty special.
Also, Becky from Walmart, I am sorry for my actions and will you please return my wallet; it has my social security card in it.
Special Features
San Diego Comic-Con Panel
Interview with director Joe Lynch
Some more interviews and behind the scenes stuff that are really disappointing, and just seem like things they did to fill space.