Darkon (2006)

Darkon is Live Action Role-Playing, where the characters in the game assume different personas of their own creation and partake of different warring nations and factions in the Darkon universe. Not entirely unlike traditional Dungeons & Dragons, except the focus is not upon the stat-sheets and one's imagination, but the actual grandiose foam-weapon battles between armies.The documentary focuses on a drawn-out Darkon campaign fought between two warring faction leaders: Skip Lipman/Bannor (he's Bannor in Darkon), and Kenyon Wells/Keldar. Of the two, Skip is the more likable character, a stay-at-home dad with the utmost exuberance for Darkon's potential as a fulfilling and self-empowering creative channel. Kenyon/Keldar seems to stand for similar things, but then he doesn't take the Darkon fantasy as seriously as the other members of the documentary. Instead he uses it as a medium for him to channel his expansive, greedy determination.What is revealed by all this, is that these Darkon characters are not necessarily escapes or pure projections in another universe, but simply extended, exaggerated branches of their respective personalities inside the world of Darkon.That isn't to say Darkon is a strange, negative or absurd enterprise by any means. In fact, the documentary is positive for making the viewer re-examine all the real Live Action Role-playing and fantasy elements that take place in our communities (American football and sports, martial arts and "Reality-Based Self-Defense", New Agers and "shamans", yoga, religion, etc.) because they have long since been accepted by mainstream society as normal. But when fantasies become vivid enough to the ones enacting them, those fantasies bleed into real life and how we develop as members of our daily communities.

The subject is certainly compelling: a group of people take their love of gaming one step further by creating a fake medieval world full of warriors, kings, princes and castles. Wargaming is an interesting phenomena that delves into our collective need to "escape" from reality and the sometimes mundaneness of our existence -- something almost everyone can relate to. The characters are the predictable mix of Lord of the Rings nerds and Star Trek enthusiasts. That's enough to get most people to watch. However, very quickly the film turns into an insider's view of wargaming with an almost stereotypical thumbing of the nose to viewers who "don't get it". The filmmakers seem to take the subject of wargaming, and this particular one, waaaaay too seriously rather than once in awhile recognizing the humor and fun in making a film about adults drssing up in medieval gear and pounding each other with foam swords. It's pretty hard for anyone who doesn't sit on their computer for 7-10 hours a day playing games or desiging the latest star destroyer to understand what the characters are talking about and why we should even care. However, the filmmakers themselves seem not to care choosing to focus solely on the subject of the game itself rather than building a strong narrative with a clear story that anyone can understand. Moreover, the characters themselves are not that compelling and you quickly become bored of them: a big no-no when you're trying to keep people's attention for 90 minutes.

Everything a Doc could be.Seriously... "Darkon" Directors Andrew Neel & Luke Meyers manage to cover all angles of a relatively unfamiliar topic – a full-contact adult war-gaming society – practically leaving no questions unanswered. Who are these guys? Who marries them? And what of their kids? It's all there and it's all worth it. It's also a very fair outlook on their lives, making it easy to both sympathize with them AND laugh at them. e.g. It's pretty ridiculous to watch these characters swinging foam swords 20 meters from a parking lot of minivans, and yet when the picture noticeably receives a boost in budget halfway through, suddenly incorporating sweeping crane shots, one can't help but feel happy for these guys, who are finally starring in their own epic.www.manwithavan.blogspot.com

Saw this at the Santa Fe Film Festival. I knew little more than what I had read in the program and seen on the trailer. Not being a "Larper" (which is never fully explained) I never had a clear sense of the complexity of the activity. Overall, I thought that the film did a cursory job of presenting the characters and their motivations. Because the film takes itself so seriously, I felt we were laughing at the characters, not with them. All we really get from the characters is a reinforced theme of "at home I'm nobody, I'm not in control... at Darkon, I'm somebody, I'm in control" (not a direct quote). Rather than documenting, this film seems to promote the activity, never taking the time to question whether or not participating in Darkon is always a good thing. It's more narrative than documentary, and the story simply isn't that compelling. I think this film thrives largely on the foreignness of the subject matter.The editing is a little sloppy (the film could be about 15 minutes shorter), characters are a bit bland (give the subject, I expected more dynamic personalities), visuals range from professional to poorly shot/poorly exposed, the music is quite excellent... though it gives the film a pseudo "Lord of the Rings" vibe when it's really just Medieval Reenactment with padded weapons. Again, I felt this undermined the objectivity and made it Pro-Darkon.The preview has all the best shots from the film, as previews often do. Most of those images have no context in the film itself, and are just visual asides.Of course, independent film-making is no small task, so for that reason I'm giving this a 5/10. It was a good effort, but overall, I would not recommend the film. Boredom sinks in at about minute 15.