LLOYD THE CONQUEROR dvd

With geek culture becoming more and more mainstream, there are two typical approaches to it: celebration and mockery.  Lloyd the Conqueror takes the latter approach, spending most of its ludicrous time making fun of live-action role playing, or LARPing.

Community college students and good buddies Lloyd (Evan Williams), Patrick (Jesse Reid), and Oswald (Scott Patey) got distracted playing video games, gave the worst oral report on Beowulf ever, and will be kicked out of their apartment with their failing grade.  Fortunately for them, their teacher Derek (Mike Smith) is obsessed with winning the Demons & Dwarves LARP for the dark side, and he needs teams to beat.  So Derek tells the three he'll give them a C if they sign up for the LARP -- and if the three somehow win, Derek will give them an A+.

The trio wind up joining up with Andy (Brian Posehn), a game store owner and self-proclaimed "level 80 wizard" who thinks Derek is taking all the fun out of Demons & Dwarves.  He decides to train the full-of-snide-comments trio.  And since Lloyd has a crush on Cassandra (Tegan Moss), a violent "self defense for women" instructor, she winds up on their team as well.

 If this sounds silly, it gets worse.  There are goofy attempts at bribery, coercion, and cheating  to win.  There are pathetic training montages involving throwing tinfoil balls and chucking away rulebooks.  There are ridiculous LARPers, a romance that is thrown in for its own sake, lots of cursing and cheap jokes at the expense of the characters, and a predictable move of the main characters going from making fun of LARPing to embracing it.

What's missing from Lloyd the Conqueror is laughter.  The jokes are very obvious and more painful than funny.  The only amusing actor here is Brian Posehn, though he may have lost some geek cred by appearing in this movie.

Lloyd the Conqueror feels more like an extended bad sketch from a comedy show than an amusing take on geek culture.  Skip it.  (For those who'll still watch it, DVD extras include the making of the movie, a PSA for Demons & Dwarves, and making the music for the movie.)

Overall grade: D-
Reviewed by James Lynch