I don’t really know where to start with this whirlwind of a picture. Your Highness could have been a fantastic, witty and fun obnoxious comedy akin to Men In Tights, Galavant, or Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but the lack of developed characters and intelligent script stripped it of all promise.
Danny McBride plays Thadeus, a Jack Black-wannabe character who lives in his brother Fabious’ (James Franco) shadow. He is finally given the chance to prove himself a hero in the quest of a lifetime: helping Fabious rescue his beautiful bride (Zoey Deschanel) from the clutches of an evil wizard (Justin Theroux.)
For starters, I’m not actually sure why such well-known actors would take on a project of this caliber. While the setting and cinematography is beautiful, the gorgeous Ireland forest is about the only pro.
Portman and Deschanel both play characters that are such cliches, it hurt to watch: Natalie Portman’s Isabel was a predictable Katniss Everdeen/Lara Croft style fighter and Zoey Deschanel’s Belladonna was a rather bored and bewildered princess with no backstory or personality to speak of.
Next… don’t even get me STARTED on the dick jokes. I understand I watched the unrated version of a film — I certainly was not expecting family friendly — but the sheer amount of crude sexual jokes was just a LOT. No one wants to see a minotaur humping a shirtless man, or our “hero” wearing a minotaur penis as a trophy. In this instance especially, less is more.
Lastly, Your Highness was predictable (minotaur genitalia aside.) The questline was very basic, the characters were cliches, and the ending was anticlimactic (although the guy DID end up with the girl, and I’m still questioning why Isabel would fall for Thadeus in the first place.) Ultimately, I felt like I was watching a stoner 15-year old running a d&d campaign with a bunch of horny teenage boys.
I give this film a solid 2 out of 10 stars.
The Midnight Review 