Director: David Gordon Green
Stars: Danny McBride, James Franco, Justin Theroux, Natalie Portman
Earlier tonight, Michigan State University hosted a sneak screening of Your Highness; David Gordon Green's comedic tip of the hat to such 80's "classics" as Krull and The Sword And The Sorcerer. With, y'know, pot jokes. Director Green and star/writer McBride were in attendance, and gave a quick Q &A afterwords (Answering such brilliantly devised questions as "What was it like kissing Natalie Portman?" and "What was up with that wizard dude?").
Tone wise, this isn't too dissimilar from Pineapple Express - One part straightforward story, one part loving homage, and one part outright parody of a genre. But while Express only took occasional dips into Mel Brooks land, Your Highness has tongue planted firmly in cheek for most of it's running time. The only person playing their character completely straight is Natalie Portman, who's fearless warrior character acts as a great counterpoint to McBride's cowardly, bumbling prince.
It's a fun flick, and while the teen crowd I was with were laughing their asses off at all the dick and weed jokes (which were, for their pedigree, quite hilarious), I think the best audience to see this with would be a collection of thirty-something year old film nerds. The use of all the standard 80's fantasy film beats - Tavern brawl, Spooky labyrinth, Climax in a dark tower - and direct references were lost on what, I can only assume, is the target audience. "Why was there a mechanical bird?", etc. The look and feel captured those films exactly, from garish costumes to hair-metal hairdos (Though a little stop-motion scene would've been nice. Just sayin'!).
The projection in the little classroom I watched it in was bad, and the sound system was atrocious, but technical problems aside I could tell that the visuals, music, and sound fx were just as spot-on as the other elements. The score at times reminded me of Lord Of The Rings or Willow. Very nice use of Irish countryside to give it an epic scale.
Complaints? It probably could have used one more legitimately rousing action scene. Also, being so weightless, I didn't have any emotional investment in the quest, unlike the concern I had for Franco and Rogen's characters in Express.
But, these are minor quibbles. It's lightweight, it's fun, and it's a great love letter to some goofy films from our youth.
FREDERICK OPINES: GOOD
No comments:
Post a Comment