Have you ever watched a period film and gotten bored from the Old-English speak? Do you ever wish that the characters would incorporate modern-day vulgarities into their vocabulary? Well, you're in luck. Your Highness is for you!
It stars Danny McBride as Thadeous, the underacheiving younger brother to Fabious (James Franco), the dashing, triumphant warrior. Fabious returns from a quest with bride-to-be Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel) but the wedding is disrupted by a dark wizard named Leezar (Justin Theroux). Leezar kidnaps Belladonna, intending to rape her when the two moons (yes, two) touch, thereby creating a giant dragon with which he can control the kingdom. It's complicated. And irrelevant. Anyways, with the reluctant help of Thadeous, Fabious embarks on a quest to reclaim Belladonna and kill Leezar. Along the way, hilarity ensues.
To be clear, this movie's effectiveness completely depends on your sense of humor, like any comedy. This is another comedy from the Judd Apatow end of the spectrum, but without the great story and actual drama. As mentioned before, the main draw of this movie is the gimic: Medieval characters spouting contemporary swear words. That is the ONLY reason to see this movie. That being said, it delivers on that level. The jokes are funny, and the gimic is enough to pass 2 hours without getting too repetitive. Everything else is lazy. There is no story, no tension, and no character growth at all. The only people who should go see this are mostly males who enjoy Dungeons and Dragons and Eastbound and Down. Go see it with a big group of friends and have fun with it. However, this movie is not worth seeing twice or purchasing for home viewing. Like most comedies, the jokes will not be half as funny the second time around. You see, comedy depends mostly on the element of surprise. The comedies that can be watched over and over again work because they not only have great jokes, but those jokes are character-driven and make sense with the equally-engaging story. The jokes in Your Highness are driven by nothing, and once you've heard the jokes, they won't be fresh ever again.
To be clear, this movie's effectiveness completely depends on your sense of humor, like any comedy. This is another comedy from the Judd Apatow end of the spectrum, but without the great story and actual drama. As mentioned before, the main draw of this movie is the gimic: Medieval characters spouting contemporary swear words. That is the ONLY reason to see this movie. That being said, it delivers on that level. The jokes are funny, and the gimic is enough to pass 2 hours without getting too repetitive. Everything else is lazy. There is no story, no tension, and no character growth at all. The only people who should go see this are mostly males who enjoy Dungeons and Dragons and Eastbound and Down. Go see it with a big group of friends and have fun with it. However, this movie is not worth seeing twice or purchasing for home viewing. Like most comedies, the jokes will not be half as funny the second time around. You see, comedy depends mostly on the element of surprise. The comedies that can be watched over and over again work because they not only have great jokes, but those jokes are character-driven and make sense with the equally-engaging story. The jokes in Your Highness are driven by nothing, and once you've heard the jokes, they won't be fresh ever again.
This movie has been getting a lot of negative reviews. RottenTomatoes.com has given it a 25% score. This sends the wrong message because people who see that rating will think that there is nothing here to enjoy. There is, but just once.
This movie has been getting a lot of negative reviews. RottenTomatoes.com has given it a 25% score. This sends the wrong message because people who see that rating will think that there is nothing here to enjoy. There is, but just once.
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