Darkon

2006 narrative documentary

Rating: 13/20

Plot: Why bother growing up when you can dress up like a knight, paint your face, shout fantasy book cliches, and hit people with giant foam swords? Fantasy nerds meet bimonthly to do battle in public parks, attempting to take over hexagonal territories and get their names in gold on the wall of the Geek Hall of Fame.

Subjective peek at the world of LARPs (Live Action Role Players), both in the fantasy worlds they create for themselves and their real lives which aren't nearly as exciting. Watching the actual battle stuff is novel for about thirty-five seconds, but more interesting is the dichotomy between these people's (yeah, women are involved, too) actual and fantasy personas. The story of a schism within the most evil of the LARP clans (or whatever they're called) is a drawn out a little too much and get pretty dull. But watching this did make me feel bad about launching a frisbee into a group of these guys at a park a few months ago, so I guess it's at least somewhat successful.