DVD Reviews

Your Highness – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Aug 9, 2011, 13:37 GMT

Get high and mighty with Danny McBride, James Franco and Natalie Portman in "Your Highness", the epic and hilarious action-comedy from the director of "Pineapple Express". Two royal princes - slacker, weed-smoking Thadeous (McBride) and the noble Fabious (Franco) - join with an elusive warrior (Portman) on a quest to free a princess from an evil wizard. Along the way, they\'ll have to vanquish horrific creatures and traitorous knights in ...more

“Let the f*ckening begin!”

Danny McBride helms a perverted, deformed sibling to the Princess Bride. It’s not as funny or classic as that film, but there are a few scattershot laughs to be found.

That is, if you’re into McBride’s humor persona… a few puffs of ye olde happy weed might help.

In a land far, far away, King Tallious (Charles Dance) has two sons. Fabious (James Franco) is a skilled and brave knight and when derring-do is to be done he’s the one who accomplishes it.

His other son Thadeous (Danny McBride) is the exact opposite of Fabious. He is lazy and cowardly and getting into trouble with his manservant Courtney (Rasmus Hardiker).

The evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux) is plaguing the kingdom with all manner of evils. Fabious has slain a Cyclops that Leezar conjured and in the process discovered the virgin Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel) who he plans to marry.

He asks Thadeous to be his best man, but he overhears Boremont (Damien Lewis), the leader of the knights elite, badmouthing him to he skips the ceremony and goes off to get high. Leezar crashes the wedding to spirit Belladonna away since he has evil plans for her maidenhood.

Now Fabious has to take Thadeous on a quest to rescue his beloved. So the brothers set off with Boremont and the knights elite, court advisor Julie (Toby Jones), and meet lady warrior Isabel (Natalie Portman) along the way.

Anyone who has played Dungeons and Dragons or loves fantasy films may find something to be amused at in Your Highness. It certainly apes several genres as our heroes go on their quest to slay a devious wizard as well as adding some pop references along the way all with a stoner/slacker wit.

Danny McBride assays his usual faux arrogant dunderheaded confidence as the lazy lout who finds himself on the quest. Franco also has a flair for comedy as the more adept brother. It’s not exactly classic like Monty Python and the Holy Grail but it has quite a few laughs interspersed with the questing.

It gets better as it goes along since the funnier bits begin after they hit the road. Although the main collaborators previous efforts were the funnier ones, there a probably enough moments to keep you interested until the quest is complete.

Your Highness is presented in widescreen (2.40:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. You get two cuts of the film: the 103 minute theatrical cut and the 106 minute unrated cut.

Special features include a commentary by director David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, James Franco, and Justin Theroux, 2 minutes of alternate scenes, 9 minutes of deleted scenes, a 5 minute gag reel, and the 30 minute making of “Damn you Gods.”

McBride brings his usual stoner aplomb to this medieval mockery, but the laughs are scattershot. There are enough to warrant a viewing, unless you don’t get McBride’s humor. Well, there’s always the shot of Portman in a g-string to keep you interested.