The brave and handsome Prince Fabious (James Franco) sets out on an epic quest to save his beautiful bride-to-be Belladonna (Zooey Deschannel) from the evil sorcerer Leezar (Justin Theroux). He is reluctantly accompanied by his oafish younger brother Thadeous (Danny McBride), a bumbling slacker who is more interested in buxom wenches and wizard weed than heroic deeds. The two brothers must defeat all manner of monsters and magic , with a little help from a ruthless female warrior (Natalie Portman), if they are to royally save the day.
The idea of combining pretentious fantasy adventure with the crude stupidity of a stoner comedy has some appealing potential. The generic plotting and clichéd characters of the fantasy genre provides the perfect platform for satire. It should be an easy target for droll observational slacker wit. Unfortunately the film's jokes follow an increasingly predictable and disappointing pattern. Every serious moment is ruthlessly interrupted by unexpectedly foul mouthed innuendo. The problem with this kind of shock value humour is that it suffers greatly from the law of diminishing returns. Amusing novelty gives way rapidly to boredom with constant and uninspired repetition .
Director David Gordon Green has a background in accomplished art-house films (George Washington, All The Real Girls) and successful low brow comedy (Pineapple Express), so he seemed well equipped to handle a fantasy spoof. Unfortunately the film only really grabs for easy laughs with mixed results at best. It's not that it's terrible, it's just that it could have been great but largely misses the opportunity.
A respectable blockbuster budget does at least ensure lavish sets, costumes and special effects. A five headed Hydra, a stoned puppet and a frisky Minotaur are a few of the films glossy set pieces. Of course it might not be enough to keep you entertained if you're not already laughing. The films excessively blood splattered action may also be slightly off-putting for the squeamish, but will likely appeal to the film's target audience.
James Franco takes a break from being an Oscar nominated renaissance man to indulge once again in his stoner comedy sideline act. He's obviously enjoying himself so much that it's hard to imagine this isn't his true comfort zone. Likewise Natalie Portman slips out of her Oscar winning ballet shoes and into a metal thong, sacrificing high brow critical acclaim for eager fanboy worship . It's interesting to wonder precisely what motivated her to invest her dramatic talents and credibility in a sea of dick jokes.
Justin Theroux steals a few scenes as a clueless warlock. While every time the enchanting Zooey Deschannel appears on screen it's a treat for the eyes that make the film a little easier to watch. It's clear that the cast are all having a lot of fun, but more difficult to explain why that doesn't always translate to the audience.
Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down, Pineapple Express) squeezes his usual arrogant underachiever persona into medieval armour with occasionally amusing results. But whatever you opinion is of his typical frat boy trash talk, it's unlikely that the addition of a few old English words will change it. How funny you think Danny McBride is will likely be a very good yardstick for how much you'll enjoy Your Highness.
The savaging that the film has received from critics is perhaps a little mean spirited and unfair. It might fail to live up to its potential, but it's still vastly superior to abysmal parody movies like Epic Movie or Meet The Spartans. At least unlike those films it's not just a random assortment of awful pop culture references and toilet humour.
Still if you're in the mood for a lovingly satirical homage to the fantasy genre you may be better off re-watching The Princess Bride on DVD again. If you don't own The Princess Bride then I'm sorry but I'm just not sure we can be friends again until you do...
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