Review of Unicorn City (2012) by K G — 23 Feb 2012

Fun film, good writing and geeky gamer humor.

Just got home from the Premiere showing of Unicorn City, and found this independent film to be quite enjoyable. The acting was very good, especially by new comer Jacyln Hale, who I feel really helps carry the movie, and the writing quite humorous. That said, I feel the film will find a moderate sized audience, but not wide appeal to do the niche theme and plot.

---MINOR SPOILER ALERT--_.

To sum up the film, without TOO many spoilers: Voss (Devin McGinn) is a die hard role play gamer, and has been recently kicked out of his RPG group by a rather power-man game master. He fortunately lands a chance to get a project manager job with gaming giant , but has to prove he has the management skills to elevate him above the other candidates and prove he can lead a team of developers. He comes up with the idea of making a gamer/LARP'er utopia, Unicorn City, in the wilds of Utah. Along for the ride are his close friend Clancy (Matt Mattson) and Marsha (Jaclyn Hales) and a cast of other RPGers. Little does Voss realize Marsha's true feelings for him, and how his leadership skills will be put to the test when facing his old gaming nemesis Shadow Hawk (veteran actor Jon Gries).

I really enjoyed the humor and jokes in this film, but I have to admit I've been a gamer for quite a long time. The dynamics between the characters work well, and in most cases do not feel to forced, and there is a good chemistry of at least friendship between Voss and Marsha. The script flows well, and except for a few issues with pacing here and there (a few shots seem to last a bit too long in silence, and maybe a short trim here or there of dialogue) keeps your interest and the laughs coming. Some of the most memorable scenes involve Rhubarb, a centaur LARPer, skillfully pulled off by an awesome costume and perfectly understated acting my Clint Vanderlinden. Also, Jon Gries, a long time favorite of mine pulls off the antagonist of the film in such a way that you loath him from the word go.

The unfortunate downside is due to the specific audience it almost seems written for, some viewers will not really get the jokes, understand the concepts and humor, and will be left with a rather disappointed reaction. I attended with two friends, one a gamer and his girlfriend. The film did not really appeal to her at all, but as mentioned it seems to have a bit of a focused audience.

That said, the film can easily appeal to a broad spectrum, and I feel it's worth a viewing. If you are a gamer, LARPer, RPGer, or MMOer you need to see this film. And if you don't really understand it, but got a good laugh at the "Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt!" video on Youtube, well, you should see this movie as well. It was well worth the time. I would give it a very strong full price movie to the above, and recommended matinee price for others.

As a final note, it was awesome to see a long time local haunt of gamers, Hastur Hobbies in Salt Lake City, featured in the film, and a special cameo that long time patrons of Hastur's will recognize.