Movie Review: Nights of Badassdom

Well if I haven't reached Micheal Moore levels of douchebaggery.  Right now, after Robotics;Notes, Stiens;Gate, and A Woman Called Fujiko Mine, I NEED something simple and fun. No more navel gazing. I don't want anything that makes me think right now. Just something to munch popcorn with.

• No relations with, references to,  comments on, or continuations of other narratives, including adaptations from other media.
• No allegorical statements about society.
• Nothing that interacts with a historical narrative and makes me question the interplay between fiction and reality.
• No weird plot twists that make you reconsider the text.
• Nothing that even looks like it could be post-modernist or post-structuralist.
• Nothing that depends on knowledge of pre-existing genre conventions.
• Nothing that ponders its own medium or production. 
• No quirky ensemble pieces that question the role of the protagonist.
• Nothing that comes close to deep seated personal insecurities
• And for God's sake nothing surreal, absurdist or dada.

I want a simple, traditional, classical narrative with a single protagonist! And no existential debates whether such a movie truly exists! No! I ain't havin' it.

There is a guy and there is a plot.

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!

Knights of Badassdom is free on Xbox live.

Alright soooo this takes some explaining. Soooo this is a film everybody in nerd culture has been talking about for a while but for about two maybe three years it hasn't seen the light of day. I saw trailers and it looked awesome. It has a cast I liked and a weird trippy nerdy plot so. But there's also been a bit of a studio kerfuffle and I'm pretty sure I'm getting an edited cut so the question is, "Is it good?" Let's go.

I'm going to be honest this thing got me with its awesome cast it has some real star power especially from the  TV circuit, Game of Throne's Peter Dinklage, True Blood's Ryan Kwanten, Firefly's Summer Glau,  Treme's Steve Zahn. It's a who's who of genre television.

The plot basically involves a group of LARPers who find some real deal evil crap. Contrary to what every 80's D&D movie would have you believe they all (okay all but one) know it's a game, it's just some stupid fun but then...


They summon a god damned succubus.

Let's back up True Blood's Jason (yeah its going to be one of those) is dumped by his girlfriend. His buddies get him blazed and kidnap him for a LARP to get him out of his funk.  When initiate him using the evil necronomicon of destiny (yeah that comparison has been made by people smarter than me and I see it.) shit gets real.

As you can already guess by my not so subtle reference this thing works on Tenacious D style humor with one big difference.  The cast is larger and self-aware. The big joke of POD was that Jack Black had bought into the rock and roll mythos completely.


But here half of the cast thinks the other half is taking things a little too far and needs to lighten up in the LARP. And that's what makes it funny the dichotomy between the in and out of game moments. Why else would you make a movie about LARPing.

Oddly enough its the crazier characters who are the first to realize something's wrong and take action, of course they're the crazy ones so that aint exactly effective.

By act two the tone just shifts as shit gets real. As the party becomes THE party. Never piss off the bard!

For its budget this this has some decent atmosphere, and the novelty of seeing Tyrion Lannister larp alone makes the movie worth seeing but movie manages the sweet spot of being both fun and scary that said it's ending is obvious nerd pandering.

Then again I am a nerd. But I also wonder what the ending would look like if if hadn't been cut. On its own merit though I have been entertained.