I was actually kind of excited when I heard this movie was being made. I love Danny Pudi and Peter Dinklage so I thought it had to be good. I definitely think the movie had its moments, but for the most part this is going to be a rant about how larp is portrayed in movies.
Do not expect this post to have any semblance of order.
I was only slightly iffy about the movie at the beginning. A lot of the characters were pretty cheesy, but there were some solid moments that made me feel like this was actually about a larp. I was on board with the plot of these guys dragging along their friend to larp and him maybe having a good time. And then the succubus happened.
I don’t understand why it’s necessary to make a larp movie in which real violence is so prevalent. This happened in the Wild Hunt which was a fantastic movie until it turned into people actually killing each other. The are enough stigmas about larp and other mock-violent games (video games etc). Did they need to turn this into a situation where everyone had to pull out real weapons? Was it necessary to show demons being summoned because of a larper?
One thing I did like was that there was a little more of a look into the mechanics of a larp, which was not really shown in Role Models. While the combat system in Knights was a little simplistic, I liked that they show things like Hold and show two characters going OOG. Those little things are really the only parts I really liked to the movie.
I really liked the character Gwen. I felt she was less cheesy then the rest of the characters, while still having her nerdy larper moments (the “finish him!” at the beginning of the movie in the parking lot, is something me and my friends would have done OOG as well). I don’t know why there was a need to super sexify her. I don’t even mean that girls in larp shouldn’t be sexy. It’s larp, show it off if you want to, cover it up if you want to. I think what bothered me was the fishnet tights and the stereotypical “girl who just figured out what larping is” outfit. A lot of effort went into making the guys’ costumes and it looks like they just threw a bodice on her and maybe her instant eye candy.
And I don’t understand why there can’t be a movie that is just about larp. Larp, IG and OOG, is drama filled enough for a movie. I don’t know why you need to add a succubus. Or, as is the case with Role Models, why the characters have to be so extraordinarily nerdy, awkward, and cheesy. I’m not saying there aren’t ridiculously cheesy larpers, and I have met one or two who seem to never go OOG. But the majority of larpers are just regular people coming to have fun for a weekend. Most of us will not speak in Shakespearean english OOG. Most of us don’t even do that IG.
Just one day I want to see a larp movie that’s about larp. Not about a murderer in the woods, or a summoned succubus, or two guys helping out some awkward kids. Can someone make a movie that’s about larp?