by Mary Anne Butler, Editor/Reporter/Photographer
THERE BE MONSTERS IN NEED OF PUMMELIN’!
There is something special about this movie, and I say that as someone who’s LARPed, done Renaissance Faires, cosplayed, and slayed demons while singing heavy metal. OK DOOM METAL, sorry. Out of all the films I’ve seen recently about/around such events, this was the first that didn’t spend the entire screen time making fun of the participants. There’s plenty of self deprecating humor to be sure, but it’s done from the point of view of “you’ll laugh at this because you know it’s true” as opposed to “you’re all stupid nerds and we’re laughing at you”. That HORRIBLE Christina Ricci film “All’s Fair” is an example of the latter, to such a terrible extent, it was turned off half way through by a large group of people at a Ren Faire because it was THAT insulting to their hobby/lifestyle. Knights of Badassdom is in general, a well produced humorous look at what goes on behind those foam shields.
Knights was a crowd funded project, getting the majority of it’s backing through a large Kickstarter contribution. It had a panel at San Diego Comic Con, popular names attached, and all the buzz an indie project with promise can have. Something happened along the lines though, and the release date continued to get pushed back. Distribution was an issue, and it seemed like it was never going to see the light of a theater isle. Excited fans lost hope, even though chatter on twitter and Facebook was high, the interest was there. I’m still not fully sure what happened there, but it did eventually find a way to be seen with a bag full of popcorn.
The first time I saw the movie (without that traditional theater distribution, it was done through Tugg Events), almost everyone in the audience said they had donated in the earlier days of the project. The viewers were also largely involved in the various LARPing (which stands for live action role play) communities varying from traditional Dungeons and Dragons groups, SCA, Vampire the Masquerade and Camirilla respectively, and a light saber training dojo. Pretty across the board representation. If you’re unaware what these things are, think of each one like a franchise of any major sport, each one having die hard fans and any number of sworn enemies and rivalries. But everyone laughed. Everyone cheered.
The story follows Joe, a newly broken hearted mechanic by day-doom metal thrasher by night played by Ryan Kwanten. His buddies Eric (Steve Zahn) and Hung (Peter Dinklage) decide the only way to cure their friend is to get him drunk, stoned, and shanghai’d to their local LARP retreat in the middle of a national forest. Joe wakes up in the back of a carpeted fantasy mural’ed van dressed in armor. Seems normal, right? Add in the typical characters you’d find at such a place; Ronnie Kwok (Jimmi Simpson)the guy in charge who has a beef with our hero, Lando (Danny Pudi) the wily cleric, Gunther (Brett Gipson) the “always in game” guy who’s still banned from Medieval Times, Gwen (Summer Glau) the warrior maiden and terrible bass player, and Beth (Margarita Levieva) the ex girlfriend. Before heading to the gathering, Eric the sorcerer purchases an “old book” from ebay, which of COURSE turns out to be a manuscript of hellspawn raising incantations, making me wonder what the hell he wrote on THAT buyer feedback post-action. I won’t spoil the rest for you, because really, it’s awesome and very enjoyable. I will warn you that there is blood, gore, disembowelment, dismemberment, and a girl-girl makeout sesh that doesn’t end well.
The moment that got the biggest laughs in both groups I saw it with was the unrolling of the map of the location (badly made, by the way) being anchored with a beer, a ketchup, mustard, and a jar of pickles. I was surprised by this, but I guess every group has experienced something similar. And F*CK YOU AND THE MUSTACHE YOU RODE IN ON is my new battlecry.
Cheering abounded, fueled by the ruthless metal riffs of the score provided by Emmy winning composer Bear McCreary. The soundtrack features performances by Brendan McCreary (Young Beautiful in a Hurry), Raya Yarbrough, and heavy metal and rock luminaries including Brendon Small (Dethklok), Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake, Dio), Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa), Steve Bartek (Oingo Boingo), Ira Ingber (Bob Dylan), Pete Griffin (Three Inches of Blood) and Joe Travers (Zappa Plays Zappa). Seriously, it’s rare a score is as much of the story as this one, and it’s a great stand alone set of tracks you’ll be battling to for years to come. The score becomes available on February 11th from Sparks and Shadows. The first 360 people who purchase the CD through LA LA Land Records will receive their copy autographed by McCreary.
The film is available on Amazon now; streaming, DVD, and Bluray. See it, enjoy it, and let it inspire you to never be afraid to face danger as long as true friends and good music are at hand.
