I Declare War (2012)

Genre : Drama/Action
Country : Canada

Cast :
Siam Yu : Paul Kwon
Gage Munroe : P.K.
Michael Friend : Skinner

Director :
Jason Lapeyre

Summary
Armed with nothing but branches, lots of imagination and just a few simple rules, a group of 12 year old boys are playing a game of "Capture the Flag" in the woods. However, the line between fantasy and reality fades while time passes. The childlike innocent game changes quickly in a dangerous thing, where the boundaries of friendship are shifted as the battle for victory progresses.

My opinion
I really wonder where the comedy part actually was in this movie, as stated in the genre section by IMDb. I rather felt sorry for some of the leading playing figures. I think that P.K. and Skinner would be very interesting study objects for aspiring child psychologists, and eventually could use some proper psychological assistance.

On second thought I ended up watching 90 minutes at a cinematic display of a game played in the woods like scouts members still play. But in this case performed by a group of youngsters with a lot of dangerous imagination. It reminded me sometimes of "The Goonies", but without the pirate ship and without Chunk.

At times the acting was very annoying and amateurish. All the characteristics of a low budget film were there : the same location all the time, endlessly running back and forth in some local woods, no expensive action scenes or props. Personally, I thought P.K. wasn't exactly a textbook example of a leader. He'dd rather gather in the group of most bullied boys at school.

The concept is original. It shows how children experience the adult traits like hatred, jealousy, love, loyalty and friendship. In reality this could also lead to similar incidents, unfortunately. Only the effect is weak and makes this film a slow, boring and totally not emotionally touching film.