Last night I decided to journey to the cinema. I haven't been going very often lately due to having a stupid amount of work to do but in five weeks when it's done I can binge my ass off. Anyway, my original plan was to watch Scream and then Limitless but I decided to alter that plan because I didn't want to watch two terrible films in one night. Sure, you could argue that Your Highness isn't an all round masterful piece of cinema but it's funny and I thought that funny would be better than... well, better than Limitless. Anyway, this is how it all turned out. And forgive me if these reviews are a little thin, I forgot my notepad so I'm going from memory.
So, Scream 4. We join the Woodsboro tedium ten or so years on from the last entry and Sydney Prescot has, for some reason decided to head back to where all that stabby shit went down on the tenth anniversary of the night that all that stabby shit went down. Fair enough. Guess what happens next...
Right, before going in I was pretty sure that this film would be crap and pointless nonsense. I think I was right to an extent but I will admit that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It's hard to criticise because if the argument that parts of it are stupid can quickly be countered by saying that it's supposed to be a joke. So let's approach that matter. Sure, it might be a joke. It might be spoofing the horror genre. Doesn't mean that it's instantly good. I watched the first part a few weeks ago in preparation, thinking that I'd then watch the other two before going in for part 4 but after watching the first, I felt that watching the other two would irresponsible of me. The first Scream isn't that good. Is it? I really don't think it is. I can accept it. It's okay that it exists. That's fine but sequels?
It all just seems like Wes Craven is making a big joke that should maybe be made into a few shorts for Youtube but ultimately should just be a joke amongst friends. You know those people who take things too far? You'll be talking, you make a joke about doing something stupid and they decide that it's going to happen regardless of what the results may be? Wes Craven. It's like an observational comedy that isn't making any observations that haven't already been made by literally everyone.
But rant over. It was, admittedly, good fun. Most of it's funny moments came from people dying (and this time I wasn't the only one in the cinema laughing). No Oscar-worthy performances from the cast, pretty much what you'd expect on their part. I fancy Hayden Panettiere a little less for being in this film and a few people didn't die who I really hoped would have.
All in all, like I said, it's good fun. I don't think I'll be watching it again in the cinema and I can't imagine I'll going out of my way to see it once it's on DVD but I wouldn't avoid it if it was on. I will say that it's better than the 3rd part.
3/5 because it does what it intends to do, as retarded as the whole thing may be.
And on to Your Highness.
Pretty much what you'd expect I guess. I think I wanted to watch this film because James Franco is obviously awesome. I figured it'd be funny but I imagine it could grow tired after a couple of watches. It's mostly just those throw away laughs that come from not particularly well thought out jokes but that you can't help finding funny. Vulgarity is very well presented.
James Franco delivered as you'd expect but I was left feeling that this is most likely just something to do with friends which is fair enough but it doesn't quite display his abilities as you might wish it would.
Danny McBride isn't really anything special. Funny, yes but I get the impression that he'd struggle with anything beyond that.
Natalie Portman is another who seems to just be messing around for the fun of it. To think that a few months ago she was displaying a masterful performance in Black Swan and since then she's had No Strings Attached and this. She could clearly do loads better but you have to respect her for not turning into a total douche and still just having fun for her paycheque.
As ever, I'm not so fond of Zooey Deschanel but I won't dis her performance too much because she doesn't have too large a role. She does well with what she's got but I still don't like her.
So, I'm going to also give Your Highness a 3/5. If you fancy a laugh then it's worth seeing but I can't imagine it will still be entertaining after a few watches.
POTENTIAL SPOILER:
Also, I would like to note the shockingly bad ending. Seriously, in a comedy film, you would expect the final words to be something fantastic. Something good would even be okay but the last scene just seems pointless and, quite frankly, shit. I won't ruin it any more but be prepared.
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