Knights of Badassdom is a flick that I've been curious about for some time now. On one hand, the title is utter garbage, making this sound like a low-budget package of "nerd humor" for the Big Bang Theory crowd. On the other hand, Peter Dinklage. I spent this past winter watching the entirety of Game of Thrones, so I figured that anything with Peter Dinklage in it must surely be worth my time. I was wrong, but good lord does he try.
The plot involves a group of pals (Ryan Kwanten, Steve Zahn, and Peter Dinklage) who embark on a LARP (Live-Action Role Play) after our protagonist, Joe (Kwanten) is dumped by his girlfriend (Margarita Levieva). Once they're in the woods amongst their fellow adventurers, Eric the mage (Zahn) accidentally summons a succubus who promptly takes the form of Joe's ex (and begins killing off the assembled geeks). It sounds like a fun premise that can be easily accomplished with a small budget; for the most part, it is. The greatest problem with the film lies in the fact that it's simply too short for its own good; at 85 minutes (counting the credits), this is not a long picture by any means. As such, plot points are glossed over left and right and the film deteriorates in quality as it goes along. The first half is honestly quite enjoyable; once it turns into a slasher flick is where things really begin to go wrong. For example, we're told offhand that Joe lives with one of his friends who is "an accidental millionaire". We assume it's either Dinklage or Zahn, but we never really find out who it is or how they accidentally stumbled onto such a fortune. The succubus is summoned through the use of an ancient magical tome (as explained through the great opening, in a loving homage to Army of Darkness), but we never find out how Zahn's character even came into possession of the book in the first place. Once the protagonists encounter the succubus (who still looks like Joe's former girlfriend), they immediately know something supernatural is afoot and have no qualms with running her through with a longsword. Afterwards, another character explains to them everything that we already know about the book (from the aformentioned opening sequence). The movie feels like it's way too excited to move on to a payoff that isn't nearly as great as it thinks it is; as a result, our characters aren't nearly as fleshed out as they need to be and the pacing suffers tremendously. I'm thinking back to what I just watched and it honestly all feels like a blur after the first fifteen minutes.
Rounding out the cast is Danny Pudi as Lando (the cleric), Jimmi Simpson as Ronnie (the game master), and Brett Gibson as Gunther (the hulking brute who never breaks character). They're all wholly underdeveloped (like the rest of the cast), but Simpson at least provides a good deal of laughs in the later half of the film. Filling the role of the love interest is Summer Glau's character, Gwen. She's the token "girl who does something a sheltered person would assume only nerdy guys would do" character, and as such she is super cool and tough and hot and awesome and amazing. It's the most basic "GRRL POWER" cliche in the book and she's completely devoid of any amount of depth or character growth (even moreso than the rest of the cast). Glau can hardly be blamed for this though, since I'm sure this character would have been terrible no matter who donned the leather studded miniskirt.
For the most part, I enjoyed Ryan Kwanten in the lead role, though I find the best way to describe his performance is "not quite Chris Pratt". He's not quite as handsome or funny or likeable as Chris Pratt, but he's pretty good. As one would expect, Peter Dinklage is the highlight here. You really get the feeling that he had a good time making this, which is never a bad thing (especially in a movie with this kind of tone). The only problem is that he's clearly the biggest actor in the cast; therefore, it's reasonable to say that he's the most expensive actor in the cast. As such, he doesn't have nearly as much screentime as I would have liked; the same goes for Danny Pudi. I feel as though the budget really limited this picture, but for all the wrong reasons; like the filmmakers spent too much money on things that didn't matter in lieu of things that did. For instance, the special effects. Minimalist practical effects would work perfectly for a film like this; when the film employs such effects, they look great (there's a gag involving a decapitated head that I found to be one of the highlights). However, the other half of the time, it uses incredibly dodgy CGI worthy of the SyFy channel. One would think that, had the filmmakers spent less money on nonessential details (like the main characters' lavish castle home), there would have been more room in the budget for additional scenes featuring more plot, character development, and Peter Dinklage.
The one positive quality I can attribute to this film is that it portrays role-playing nerds in a semi-realistic way; while there are still a few throwaway jokes about noobs and level 27 sorcerers, these characters are far more accurate portrayals of the modern melvin than one would find on The Big Bang Theory. There's gratuitous swearing and drug use and a healthy love of the various subgenres of metal; this isn't a movie that looks down on nerd culture for the sake of a punchline, which is appreciated. It's just a shame that the rest of the movie didn't have as much care put into it. It's not offensively bad or anything (as I said, the beginning is quite fun for anyone who's ever rolled a D20), but I feel as though this is a film I'll never end up watching again. Take that as you will.
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