Fantasy smiles

Your Highness (2011)
Certified: 16
Duration: 102 minutes
Directed by: David Gordon Green
Starring: James Franco, Natalie Portman, Danny McBride, Rasmus Hardiker, Zooey Deschanel, Justin Theroux, Charles Dance
KRS release

Your Highness is a fantasy spoof that, unlike more recent films in the genre, has bothered to come up with a storyline and a more talented and high-profile cast.

I am a big fantasy fan but I am also aware of how much the genre has a propensity to be funny as evidenced by the classic writings of Terry Pratchett and Tom Holt among others. Your Highness is irreverent as expected and it does not spare its audience of any expletives or naughtiness. However, that is half the reason why the film’s audience will want to see it – to see how the genre gets turned upside down.

When the beautiful Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel) is kidnapped by evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux), her beloved Prince Fabious (James Franco) is deeply distraught. So he asks for the help of his brother Thadeous (Danny McBride) who is his total opposite. While the former is handsome, the other is a bumbling fool who is everything but good looking. Thadeous loves Fabious but he is also jealous of him; this is also because their father, King Tallious (Charles Dance), has always favoured Fabious.

Thadeous has no option but to help his brother together with loyal servant Courtney (Rasmus Hardicker). On this mission Fabious also receives the help of Julie (Toby Jones) who is not as loyal to him as he thinks. A warrior woman named Isabel (Natalie Portman), who bears a grudge against Leezar, joins the band.

Trouble ensues as the band lose the magic compass, Thadeous tries to bed Isabel, Julie betrays the group and Fabious’s soldiers’ turn against him. To top it off there are other small matters they have to deal with such as finding a magical sword, duking it out with mythical creatures and also making their way out of a labyrinth.

Your Highness is loaded with human anatomy jokes and gags. James Franco is hunky as usual; Danny McBride irritates the rest of the cast while Natalie Portman carries a fine chastity belt. Zooey Deschanel is wide-eyed beautiful and could have had a bigger part while Rasmus Hardiker is excellent in his comic supporting role.

The film sports some excellent rendered creatures with a hydra and a minotaur being cases in point. Besides the comedy, the film is also quite strong in the action sequences which are tightly directed. The film does not depreciate the genre, instead it adds a new dimension to it. What’s more, under the boatload of double entendres and the film’s fast pacing, it is evident that the cast is having a whale of a time.