Knights of Badassdom (2013) Directed by Joe Lynch

At first, people were geeking out over this movie. Then I started to hear more and more negative things about this movie and after that...complete silence. The movie sort of disappeared from everybody's radar and it only got a limited release. And while it really isn't a terrible movie I can still definitely understand why nobody was eager to release it.

It's yet again one of those movies that celebrates 'geekdom'. Sometimes it still works out but it's actually a trend that's starting to fizzle out and it's also definitely a trend that I'm starting to grow tired of. Not necessarily because of its subject but more due to it that all movies are doing the same things. They are always completely over exaggerating with both its subjects and characters and while it all still may be cool to watch for some hardcore nerds, for most others it's far from interesting, not all that funny and definitely not engaging enough.

Taking geeky things serious doesn't just automatically make any of those geeky things cool, which is actually something that this movie seems to think though. The stuff the characters are doing in this movie is just plain stupid. No, I'm not talking about cos-playing thing but more about how they behave throughout the entire movie and respond to all of the situations. It's obvious to the characters that people are really dying and their lives are in great danger, yet they decide to stay in character for most part and to battle their opponents with their fake weapon props and made up magic spells. I know, this probably still appeals to certain people but for me it's hard to like a movie and care for any of its characters when none of them are acting in a responsible and convincing enough way. You can say that the movie is a bit too silly and geeky for its own good and is trying too hard to appeal to the 'nerd' crowd, without actually focusing on trying to tell a genuinely good and fun story.

And that brings me to another big problem of this movie; its story. For the first half, it really isn't clear where the movie is heading at. It's too random, as well as nonsensical and it took a lot of pace out of the movie its first half. The second half of the movie isn't much better unfortunately but for mostly totally different reasons. It's trying hard to be fun and adventurous, which could have worked out, if only things were a bit more grounded, which would have made it easier for me to get into the story and feel involved with any of the characters. A certain sense of realism definitely wouldn't have hurt this movie.

Another problem I had with this movie was that it was feeling like a far too low-budget and independent one. Doesn't sound like much of a complaint but I feel that this definitely is the type of the movie that could have used a much higher budget. It would have made things more exciting perhaps but it also would have provided the movie with a better overall look and style to it, that was all lacking from this movie.

From all of the actors and characters in this movie I could only find myself liking the Peter Dinklage one. He really seemed to be enjoying himself and it helped to make his character a fun one to watch as well. Unfortunately he's just one of the 'guys' and his role isn't all that big (no pun intended).

It's still a perfectly fine movie to watch though. Even though not everything about it works out, it isn't doing anything awfully wrong neither. It's never a terrible or even bad movie to watch but it definitely still feels like one that could have been a whole lot better, with just a few minor changes to its script and the approach.

It's mostly a disappointing feeling movie, that obviously had far more potential in it.

6/10

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