I got to cover a great genre mash-up with my last review, where there was a combination of Western and Sci-fi, and while a somewhat original concept, it was "based" on a comic series, so it can't really be a Hollywood original. While everyone feels that original ideas from H-wood are extinct, every once in a while something pops up with a taste of originality, and a spark of hope that we still have free thinkers in the new Babylon. Many a movie have been made featuring knights, wizards, and damsels in distress, some serious like Dragonheart with Dennis Quaid, others more comedic like Monty Python and The Holy Grail, and just as many "stoner" films have been made, whether it be the antics of Cheech & Chong and Harold & Kumar, or the rather unexpectedly violent Pineapple Express. Here we get to see these two very different genres smashed together in Your Highness.
From the director of the aforementioned Pineapple Express, and featuring two of that movie's stars in James Franco and the always great Danny McBride as brothers Fabious and Thadeous, respectively, comes Your Highness. Fabious is the heralded brother, always questing and gaining favor of the people and their father, King Thallious (Charles Dance, Last Action Hero, The Golden Child), while Thadeous is the ne'er-do-well brother, who is content with smoking and sleeping his way through the country-side. As the film opens, Thadeous is about to be hanged for sleeping with the Dwarf King's wife, and his squire Courtney (British actor Rasmus Hardiker) has been tarred and feathered. Thadeous makes good on his escape when they drop him from the gallows...that has been constructed to hang dwarfs. He lands on his feet and just climbs out, giving you an indication as the viewer of what kind of comedy you're in for: slapstick and sight gags, with a generous peppering of the f-word throughout. The opening credits roll with animated scenes showing how Thadeous and Courtney make their way back home, all while being pursued by the dwarfs and stopping for smoke breaks.
If you are being pursued by dwarfs, seems like this could wait...
The guys make it safely home as the movie rolls, and Fabious arrives home from his latest quest with his Elite Knights, who have just defeated a cyclops belonging to the evil wizard Lazzar (Justin Theroux, American Psycho, Mulholland Dr.) and freed a virgin, Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel, Big Trouble, The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy), imprisoned in the tower guarded by said cyclops. Fabious announces his intentions to marry Belladonna immediately, and asks his brother to stand in as his best man, much to the chagrin of Boremont (Damien Lewis, Dreamcatcher, Band of Brothers), leader of the Elite Knights. He voices his displeasure to some of the other knights, which Thadeous overhears and decides to skip the wedding in favor of smoking bowls with trolls. During the wedding, however, Lazzar crashes it to retrieve his virgin. He makes his escape, and eventually Thadeous returns to discover what has happened, whereupon his angered father instructs him to accompany his brother on the quest to save his bride or be expelled from the kingdom. He begrudgingly agrees and they start off on their quest, accompanied by the Knights, and Fabious' man-servant, Julie (Toby Jones, The Mist, Captain America). Their first stop is The Great Wise Wizard, who tells the boys about Lazzar's plans for the virgin, and gives them a compass to find The Blade of the Unicorn, the only sword that exists that can defeat the evil wizard. They continue on in their quest, and the plot thickens from there, with betrayal, a great chase scene, capture and plenty of "dick and fart" jokes, not to mention Natalie Portman showing up to join the quest as Isabel, a warrior on a quest of her own that may or may not have something to do with the adventure the boys are on.
Remember when you'd get a new party member in FF, and didn't know their motives? Just like that.
The rest of the film is a mix of action and low-brow comedy, with fantastical elements such as Minotaurs and other mythical creatures, culminating in a final battle scene that is as humorous as it is thrilling. It isn't going to win any awards, but it does serve as a mindless romp that you never have to take seriously, and at least McBride's faux English accent is better than Kevin Costner's pathetic attempt in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Check it out on cable, I wouldn't pay to rent it, but a free viewing is in order if you are a fan of McBride's.
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