Knights of Badassdom

source: Knights of Badassdom

I am a LARPing and D&D nerd, so when I heard they were making a movie about LARPing becoming real I was psyched and hoped that I would see a bunch of geeks using their pointlessly learned skills to save humanity. That's not what this movie is. This movie is a blood bath of nameless red-shirts and named, involved characters getting slaughtered as they cower in fear until the very end where a strange, out of nowhere solution is used. The movie is relatively short and lacks much if any character development. I only watched it because I like Peter Dinklage, Danny Pudi, and Jimmi Simpson. All three characters were killed off, Danny's before I even got to know the character. I figured I could at least appreciate the LARP aspect of it, but instead I got a few shots of LARPing and a whole lot of "Oh crap guys we're going to die run for your life!". I expected to get at least some humor out of the movie, but only heard two jokes throughout and one was rather obvious and lacked wit. >>Here down does not contain spoilers All in all I feel as through the movie could have been more interesting and not a near endless stream of the deaths of characters I care nothing about because of their homogeneity.

when i first discovered this movie it's rating was 9.1!!!!and it was such a surprise for a comedy..when i watched it had a rating of 8 and i totally regret watching this movie..if you want to torture someone then its good..otherwise don't waste your time unless you are drunk ...i am happy that its rating keeps falling and hopefully will go below 4 ..i am not a hater and generally i don't write reviews but this movie was a large disappointment according to the rating..if the rating falls to 4 then you will know what to expect...there are some known faces in the movie but no one manages to improve the movie ..in another movie maybe this cast would have performed better

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.

A slasher flick with demons set at a live-action role-playing adventure (geeks rule!) — The extras, led by Wotan the Faerie Smasher, lend this movie fantastic presence. The cast is perfection. Loved to watch: Summer Glau (Firefly, Dollhouse); Ryan Kwantlen (True Blood); Danny Pudi and *drumroll* Peter Dinklage as Hung brings the fabulousity — again! Every time anything to do with LARPing or anything in scripted red lettering comes on the screen, it's awesome. Egregiously bad: the special effects, especially the "boss" at the end, and the sexism. There are three women characters in the movie: the evil ex-girlfriend turned succubus, the evil ex-girlfriend and indiscriminate bisexual (and she won't last long!), and the new love interest with the "+ three ass of perfection" — nope, they never speak to each other or, actually, talk much at all. Bechdel roll failed. Badassdom-ly good saving throw: The ending is AH-MAZING! *devil horns up*

I was excited to check this one out. I heard some good buzz...has a great cast, neat premise with the whole LARP aspect. Terrible. This movie is wack. Wack as HELL. There's no laughs. It doesn't know if it's a comedy, it tries hard...just no laughs. It wants to be a horror/fantasy...but the comedy attempt disembowels that attempt. A LOT of wasted talent. The cast is great....but the screenplay is underwhelming and the cinematography is PITIFUL. Obviously, we sadly have yet another movie's ratings on IMDb manipulated by "someone". If you go in expecting a 6...which has dropped about 1 and a half point in the last 2 weeks, you'll be super-underwhelmed. This is a dogbone...a 4 at best...and that's probably if you're under 25. Avoid this and save your redbox money.

It had the makings of a good movie but somehow they just blew it. Taking mushrooms in LARP event, summoning a demon from hell, nerds etc... you can write a brilliant comedy just from those but this time they just didn't. There was not a single funny moment or a line in the whole movie...C'Mon there's a little person doing a lot of drugs and somehow they manage to make that not funny. How is that even possible. The only good thing about this tragedy is that it's short. Acting was not that bad but this movie just wasted their talent... Don't WASTE YOUR TIME. WATCH TUCKER AND DALE VS.EVIL INSTEAD!!!! (I cant get my head around the fact of how bad this movie is)

OK I went into this expecting a lot more. I mean Dinklage, Zahn? Both great and funny actors with lots of charisma. I wouldn't say they are going through the motions here but the material they were given is awful and their characters have zero depth, there's nothing for them to do in this movie. There was no reason for them to be in this movie. There are some funny self aware moments and maybe if you are into this LARP stuff the movie will speak to you more than me, but overall this is a major low budget cheese-fest. Jimmi Simpson was the main bright spot in this movie, playing the "villain" (kind of) in such an over the top manner that you can't help but chuckle every time he says something. I would have liked to see what the Super Troopers guys would have done with the same budget and characters, I have no doubt that it would have been 100x better, and their movies are hit and miss too. The movie itself outside of the LARP setting is a purely paint by numbers affair targeted to the frat boy stoner demographic. Pacing is not bad and the film makers have a handle on the craft part, but there is no story and very little humor. And in that stoner genre there are WAY better movies, the aforementioned Super Troopers for one, and the Harold and Kumar movies for another. Don't waste your time. This is barely on par with straight to cable "ScyFy channel" crud.

Saw this in the theatre at a showing organized by a local LARP chapter. The crowd was having a great time with the movie, laughing out loud and cheering (when called for). The energy in there was almost half the experience. The rest was the move itself. Lots of laughs, great acting, and a ridiculous premise really sold me on this. You can really tell that the actors had fun with the movie. None of them seemed like they were forced to be there or looked like they'd made a terrible mistake by signing a contract(You know the kind of movie I'm talking about). For how long it took this movie to come out, it really pulled through. If you're looking for something that takes itself seriously, or maybe has a deeper side to it, this probably isn't what you're looking for. If you're looking for a FUN movie to watch with a group of friends, I'd definitely recommend it. I will be watching this again for sure.