 Tagline: Get your quest on. Best. Quest. Ever. Get high and mighty with Danny McBride, James Franco and Natalie Portman in Your Highness, the epic and hilarious action-comedy from the director of Pineapple Express. Two royal princes, slacker Thadeous (McBride) and the noble Fabious (Franco) join with an elusive warrior (Portman) on a quest to free a princess from an evil wizard. Along the way, they'll have to vanquish horrific creatures and traitorous knights in this raunchy trip loaded with footage too outrageous for theaters. Storyline: Throughout history, tales of chivalry have burnished the legends of brave, handsome knights who rescue fair damsels, slay dragons and conquer evil. But behind many a hero is a good-for-nothing younger brother trying just to stay out of the way of those dragons, evil and trouble in general. As two princes on a daring mission to save their land, they must rescue the heir apparent's fiancée before their kingdom is destroyed. Thadeous (McBride) has spent his life watching his perfect older brother Fabious (Franco) embark upon valiant journeys and win the hearts of his people. Tired of being passed over for adventure, adoration and the throne, he's settled for a life of wizard's weed, hard booze and easy maidens. But when Fabious' bride-to-be, Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel), gets kidnapped by the evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux), the king gives his deadbeat son an ultimatum: Man up and help rescue her or get cut off. Half-assedly embarking upon his first quest, Thadeous joins Fabious to ... Written by Universal Pictures Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Kenneth Brown, July 29, 2011 -- On the never-ending quest to find the perfect comedy, some cinephiles are willing to watch anything and everything. Most moviegoers don't have that kind of time or money, though, and resort to pouring over reviews, interviews and articles to narrow the field and guide them to comedies more suited to their tastes. Fortunately, determining if Your Highness will crack you up or beat you down is as easy as answering two questions. First, how well do you remember the best (and worst) fantasy films of the '80s? (Films like Clash of the Titans, Dragonslayer, Excalibur, The Beastmaster, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Conan the Barbarian, The Dark Crystal, Krull, Deathstalker, Conan the Destroyer, Legend, Red Sonja, Ladyhawke, Labyrinth, Gor and Willow, just to name a few.) And, second, do you love them as much today as you did more than twenty years ago? If those two questions sent a warm surge of nostalgia coursing through your heart, add Your Highness to your rental queue. Director David Gordon Green and cohort/executive producer/co-writer/leading man Danny McBride made it for filmfans just like you; for filmfans like me, as it so happens. That doesn't mean you're guaranteed to love Your Highness -- you're more apt to lament its many, many missed opportunities -- but you'll certainly find it funnier than those unfamiliar with the campy siren song of '80s fantasy or those expecting a stoner comedy in the vein of Green's hilarious Pineapple Express. In a faraway land in a long forgotten kingdom in a world with two moons, there lives two brothers: Fabious (James Franco), a brave and noble swordsman who spends his days seeking out his next great quest, and Thadeous (Danny McBride), a careless and cowardly buffoon who spends his days seeking out his next great meal. The brothers, sons of the just and wise King Tallious (Charles Dance), share little in common, other than great affection for one another. Alas, Thadeous' love has become clouded by jealousy over the years; so clouded that, in a fit of selfish impulse, he refuses to attend his brother's wedding to the beautiful Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel). But when an evil sorcerer named Leezar (Justin Theroux) kidnaps Fabious' fiancé in the hopes of fulfilling an ancient prophecy, the brothers set out -- one valiantly, one reluctantly -- to rescue Belladonna and kill the power-hungry warlock. With the help of Fabious' best friend Boremont (Damian Lewis), Thadeous' servant Courtney (Rasmus Hardiker), their confidant Julie (Toby Jones) and, eventually, a cunning warrior named Isabel (Natalie Portman), the princes face deadly foes, battle otherworldly creatures, and race to find the legendary Sword of Unicorn, the only weapon capable of putting an end to Leezar's dreams of world domination. Storybook synopsis aside, Your Highness struggles early on. It's slow, unsure of itself and a bit too self-aware and self-indulgent. (Much like Thadeous, come to think of it.) But as soon as Fabious and Thadeous escape the blade of a not-so-surprising traitor, Green and McBride begin hitting their stride. A carriage chase, a companion lizard dubbed Steven and Ms. Portman herself follow, and the movie is all the better for it. The action is a blast, as it turns out, and the able-bodied swordplay and ingeniously cheesy sorcery that ensue give the film some much-needed flavor; the '80s fantasy references trickle in at first, but soon come in a deluge, hacking and slashing their way through too many cult fantasy classics to track in one viewing; and Portman swoops in and saves the at-times unwieldy genre parody from itself, bringing with her a sense of freshness and spontaneity that's sorely lacking when she isn't around. The same could be said of Theroux, Lewis, Hardiker... the supporting cast frankly steals the show. Franco is funny, but crammed into the role of a (relative) straight arrow, he's uncharacteristically one-note; McBride's jokes and one-liners hit their intended targets, but revolve around the same, increasingly tiresome medieval-pomp-meets-modern-raunch wordplay. I laughed quite a bit at his curse-laced high-speech, I'll admit. But there's only so many ways to drop the F-bomb where it doesn't belong before the gag wears thin and, more importantly, before it starts to become all too clear that Highness' comic sensibilities aren't very clever at all; just crude and crass, relying on the freedom of its R-rating rather than the wit of a smarter script. Even then, the endless array of rape and molestation jokes that seep in gunk up the gears quickly (and rather awkwardly). Even the sweet aroma of '80s fantasy can't overpower the stench of some of Green, McBride and co-writer Ben Best's boggier scenes: Thadeous and Fabious' visit with the Great Wize Wizard (Mario Torres Jr), their clash with the vile Marteetee (John Fricker) and his venomous fist, Leezar's attempts to woo Belladonna, and the "trophy" Thadeous takes from the Unicorn's labyrinth (which is, perhaps, one of the most unamusing, tedious and drawn-out visual gags to creep into an R-rated comedy in recent memory). In Pineapple Express, Green was able to focus the madcap hilarity into a single, searing, stoner-stoked beam. In Your Highness, though, the comedy is so broad, so all over the place, that the already hit-or-miss antics and wisecracks become even more hit-or-miss. And it doesn't matter how big the hits are if the misses are as wide and clumsy as they sometimes are. Worse, Green and his cohorts often stumble across something genuinely funny... and then beat it mercilessly into the ground, meaning second and third viewings are haunted by the Law of Diminishing Cinematic Returns. There are moments when it all feels so repetitive, which is the real disappointment. With so many '80s fantasy films to draw from, Your Highness seems to miss a lot of potentially gut-busting opportunities. As I alluded to earlier, the thrust of Green, McBride and Best's farce is pairing high-fantasy jargon with 21st century irreverence, which is all well and good. Unfortunately, they spend so much time setting up each scene -- with little more to push the plot along than exposition, random set pieces and choice four-letter words -- that they spin their wheels and waste valuable time walking, chatting and meandering from bar to labyrinth to castle. Your Highness is a mixed bag, pure and simple. Some will grin the whole way through and some will scowl and grow impatient. But most will alternate between laughs and yawns, embracing what works while wondering what could have been. Your Highness isn't Pineapple Express 2. For some, that will come as good news; for others, it will be a disappointment. It's a genre parody through and through -- in this case '80s swords-n-sorcery fantasy flicks -- but, sadly, it sparks as often as it fizzles. Universal's Blu-ray release is far more impressive. Its video transfer stands strong, its DTS-HD Master Audio surround track storms the castle walls, and its supplemental package has enough gold to go around. Your Highness is worth renting and, depending on your love of '80s fantasy, it might be worth more. [CSW] -4- What can you say about a movie that crosses so many sexually politically-incorrect boundaries that it is almost a stand alone unique comical travesty? You can say that it may indeed become a future cult classic! Not since Blazing Saddles has a film dared to crossed this many boundaries but where as Blazing Saddles attacked political and social correctness of the times Your Highness attacked sexual correctness in a way that was totally beyond my expectation. I'm not actually a fan of low brow humor and as filthy and stupid as this was it was also a charmingly funny fantasy adventure. It's mainly because the cast is very likable with its main leads resonating off each other in this pool of silliness which makes the film highly entertaining. I will have to let this one sink in before deciding if it is a one-time-is-enough or something I want to watch multiple times. Only time will tell. This film is so far over the edge that I have no idea how different individuals will perceive it, so you'll just have to pucker up and go watch it for yourself. [V4.5-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box 8.9/10. Cast Notes: Danny McBride (Thadeous), James Franco (Fabious), Rasmus Hardiker (Courtney), Natalie Portman (Isabel), Toby Jones (Julie), Justin Theroux (Leezar), Zooey Deschanel (Belladonna), Charles Dance (King Tallious), Damian Lewis (Boremont), Simon Farnaby (Manious the Bold), Deobia Oparei (Thundarian), B.J. Hogg (Royal Advisor), Matyelok Gibbs (Mother), Angela Pleasence (Mother), Anna Barry (Mother). IMDb Rating (12/27/10): 6.5/10 from 43,645 users
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