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Darkon
dir. Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer
They clash in the parks and wooded areas surrounding Baltimore. These men and women, mostly in their 30s, dress up in armor and various medieval garb. Some even speak invented languages. They are soldiers in the midst of an epic war between rival nations, scheming and negotiating, double-crossing and backstabbing, but ultimately, and routinely, meeting on the battlefields, where they hammer at each other with weapons made of cardboard and foam. It's Dungeons & Dragons come to frenzied, and completely serious, life; World of Warcraft let loose from the hard drive.
As documentary subjects go, the game of Darkon is ripe for mockery. The game is geekery taken to its new and—if not for the relative normality of its players—troubling heights. It runs the risk of becoming all consuming. But Darkon's directors, Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer, haven't set out to present their subjects as an army of delusional dorks. We learn that for many it is no more than an escape from daily doldrums, for others a chance to earn a popularity that eluded them in high school, and, yes, for some who immerse themselves in the game's invented mythology, it's a means of avoiding their lives. But when Neel and Meyer show us the players in battle—complete with soaring cameras and thundering score—their obsession, no matter how minor or major, is both charming and, in a sense, understandable. After all, who hasn't dreamed of being a hero at some point in his life? And, for that matter, who wouldn't enjoy bashing his friends and enemies with cardboard swords every once in a while? BRADLEY STEINBACHER
