Your Highness (D- or .5/4 stars)
Rarely have I seen a film bomb as hard as 'Your Highness' (directed by David Gordon Green). I love some of the actors involved, here. But holy crap, this was putrid. Thadeous & Fabious (Danny McBride, James Franco) are the sons of King Tallious (Charles Dance). Fabious, heir to the throne, is a renowned & chivalrous warrior who has embarked upon several successful quests & is proven in battle against wizards & dragons. Thaddeous, the younger brother, spends his days sleeping around, procrastinating, getting high, & drinking {nice, huh?}. When we 1st meet him, he's about to be killed for a sexual encounter with the wife of the King of the Dwarves. He & his faithful manservant escape through nothing but blind luck.
The kingdom is thrilled when Fabious arrives home from a recent adventure in the company of Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel), whom he intends to marry. However, the evil sorcerer Leezar (Justin Theroux), from whose captivity she was rescued, kidnaps her back with him. Fabious gathers a fellowship to seek out the enchanted weapon capable of killing Leezar, & the king orders the lazy/useless Thadeous to tag along his brother. The trek is arduous & starts badly when the knights accompanying the princes betray them in some perilous outlands. Things change for the better, though, when the brothers' paths cross with a gorgeous, but elusive warrior-woman named Isabel (Natalie Portman), who has her own reasons to need the enchanted sword. When Fabious is captured by Leezar late in the story, it is up to Thadeous to buck up, become the valiant knight he should be, & become so hero.
Oh, boy. Princess Bride - this is not. I'm sure the filmmakers of 'Your Highness' wanted to blend fantasy with comedy to create something of the Princess Bride nature. But all that resulted here is a colossal misfire. Most of the humor in this film is obvious & crude. There are a few one-liners or line deliveries that are humorous (in & of themselves), but I'd say that 90% of the humor missed the mark ... with a thud. The raunchy aspects of the humor are juvenile. The fantasy aspects (Renaissance Fair-like sets, costumes, sword & sorcery) are cliched & completely boring. I almost wish the filmmakers decided to go FULL parody & have the sets/costumes be high school level quality. I would have chuckled at that.
I also didn't like the performances. Firstly, the actors played this film like one big inside joke. They all were having a blast. But we were left out. Most of the time, McBride, Franco, Deschanel & Theroux acted stupid. 'Stupid' can be fine if executed with a modicum of humor. But that isn't the case, here. Franco's role in Pineapple Express was vapid beyond belief. And yet, if you can believe it, he trumps that vapidness with Fabious. Danny McBride is vile; to me, at least. I don't find him remotely funny. And the fact that he co-wrote this script makes me loathe him more. Natalie Portman nails a British accent. She looks hot in a chastity belt. And I bought her 'babe warrior' ways. Overall, 'Your Highness' is just witless, smutty, embarrassing, & forgettable. I never even smiled, no less chuckled. I know I grimaced. Not one ounce of imagination went into this endeavor. Blech.
The kingdom is thrilled when Fabious arrives home from a recent adventure in the company of Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel), whom he intends to marry. However, the evil sorcerer Leezar (Justin Theroux), from whose captivity she was rescued, kidnaps her back with him. Fabious gathers a fellowship to seek out the enchanted weapon capable of killing Leezar, & the king orders the lazy/useless Thadeous to tag along his brother. The trek is arduous & starts badly when the knights accompanying the princes betray them in some perilous outlands. Things change for the better, though, when the brothers' paths cross with a gorgeous, but elusive warrior-woman named Isabel (Natalie Portman), who has her own reasons to need the enchanted sword. When Fabious is captured by Leezar late in the story, it is up to Thadeous to buck up, become the valiant knight he should be, & become so hero.
Oh, boy. Princess Bride - this is not. I'm sure the filmmakers of 'Your Highness' wanted to blend fantasy with comedy to create something of the Princess Bride nature. But all that resulted here is a colossal misfire. Most of the humor in this film is obvious & crude. There are a few one-liners or line deliveries that are humorous (in & of themselves), but I'd say that 90% of the humor missed the mark ... with a thud. The raunchy aspects of the humor are juvenile. The fantasy aspects (Renaissance Fair-like sets, costumes, sword & sorcery) are cliched & completely boring. I almost wish the filmmakers decided to go FULL parody & have the sets/costumes be high school level quality. I would have chuckled at that.
I also didn't like the performances. Firstly, the actors played this film like one big inside joke. They all were having a blast. But we were left out. Most of the time, McBride, Franco, Deschanel & Theroux acted stupid. 'Stupid' can be fine if executed with a modicum of humor. But that isn't the case, here. Franco's role in Pineapple Express was vapid beyond belief. And yet, if you can believe it, he trumps that vapidness with Fabious. Danny McBride is vile; to me, at least. I don't find him remotely funny. And the fact that he co-wrote this script makes me loathe him more. Natalie Portman nails a British accent. She looks hot in a chastity belt. And I bought her 'babe warrior' ways. Overall, 'Your Highness' is just witless, smutty, embarrassing, & forgettable. I never even smiled, no less chuckled. I know I grimaced. Not one ounce of imagination went into this endeavor. Blech.