When dealing with a film that actually comes from the mind of Danny McBride, you must accept and respect the fact that there will be a lot of bathroom humor and 21st century slang. Also, knowing that this is a sword & sandal film, don't expect any accuracies in the dialogue. Obviously, don't expect too much reality, but plenty of satire. I also want to say, another similar film, Year One (2009), also being a sword & sandal/comedy, was designed much better than this film. With that being said, I still want to emphasize that I had a good time.
Danny McBride wrote this film and it offers a unique look into what the world would be like, if he was in the Renaissance era. What really hurt this film was the first 15 minutes. Danny dishes out some unoriginal comedy and predictable setup in the beginning, but it seemed like he saved the good stuff for last. What really surprised me was the fact that this was also an action-fantasy film with warlocks, witches, dragons, etc. I did not realize that from the trailer, so it was a nice surprise. The effects look really good and the adventure is fun to follow. Basically, it is a "quest film" and our heroes must rescue Prince Fabious' (James Franco), bride to be, from an evil warlock.
The comedy is juvenile, but it works among the rest of the components, that director David Gordon Green, McBride and the rest of the crew decided to use. I did notice a lot of editing mistakes and James Franco still looked as cardboard and lost like he did on Oscars night that year, but I am a Franco fan and despite those short-comings, his approach seems to work in the film, especially since one of the main ingredients to the script is drug use. You can't say enough about Natalie Portman though. She lights up the film and ends up being the toughest character and biggest hero in the film.
7.6 (C+ MyGrade) = 7 IMDB
