Movie Review: Your Highness

Recently there’s been a particular star that’s arrived in back-to-back weekends – Russell Brand. While he may have been popping up in films as a side character, sometimes that’s exactly where one belongs. Occasionally an actor gets his foot in the door with an ultra low budget outing (The Foot Fist Way) and makes friends fast while still earning their keep before making it to the big leagues. This time, that man is the ultra hilarious Danny McBride and now he’s stepping up to the plate and delivering big time with his first big budget starring role in Your Highness.

While most may only recognize one other film on director David Gordon Green’s resume (Pineapple Express), the man has actually been making great feature films since 2000. Working a few of his star friends over the last decade is surely only helping his case and each film gets even more technically proficient. Now Green is bringing Danny McBride’s rip-roaring fantasy comedy epic to light with some of their friends along for the ride. With a little help from James Franco, Natalie Portman and Zooey Deschanel, and Justin Theroux, it’s the funniest knights in armor tale this side of Monty Python.

In Your Highness, we come across Thadeus (McBride) and his loyal companion, Courtney (Rasmus Hardiker) about to be hanged by the local dwarfs population. If you can’t guess what happens when a gang of dwarfs try to hang an almost six foot tall guy then the jokes on you. Making their escape through an animated credit sequence we come to learn that poor prince Thadeus is always in the shadow of his brother Fabious (Franco) and talked down to by their father, King Tallious (Charles Dance). Fabious has just returned from an adventure and has rescued his now-fiancé, Belladonna (Deschanel), from the evil clutches of Leezar (Theroux), who also happens to be a warlock.

Fabious would be honored to have Thadeus be his best man at their wedding but Thadeus would rather get stoned and chase sheep… literally. Meanwhile, at the wedding we learn that Fabious absolutely cannot sing and Leezar returns to kidnap Belladonna once again because the twin moons are headed toward each other and a virgin must be impregnated to unleash a dragon from within said virgin’s innocent womb. Now Thadeus is forced upon his first quest alongside Fabious to rescue the fair Belladonna before Leezar commences with “the fuckening” and all hell breaks loose.

Article Author: Cinenerd

A Utah based writer, born and raised in Salt Lake City, UT for better and worse. Cinenerd has had an obsession with film his entire life, finally able to write about them since 2009, and the only thing he loves more are his wife and their two wiener dogs (Beatrix Kiddo and Pixar Animation). …

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