Your Highness is a 2011 adventure comedy film directed by David Gordon Green of Pineapple Express fame that could best be described as a tongue in cheek take on the sword and sorcery genre.The film centers on Prince Fabious (James Franco) and Prince Thadeous (Danny McBride), who are of the bold/valiant and slovenly/slacker variety, respectively (and Courtney.) Fabious' bride to be, Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel), is spirited away by an evil wizard, and her fate rests in the hands of the two princes, who embark on the journey of journeys to rescue her. Joining their quest is Isabel (Natalie Portman), a female warrior skilled in the art of deadly combat with her own personal agenda for stopping the wizard. Together, the trio faces a variety of deadly and at times hilarious dangers, from witches and knights to minotaurs and hydras.
Actor Allusion: Isabel has moves worthy of Darth Maul. One of her weapons is even a staff with two blades! For added points, she first shows up in an arena with a monster in it.
Armored Closet Gay: Given the large amount of Ho Yay in the film, Leezar certainly seems to give this sort of impression considering what he says when trying to complete the ritual with Belladonna.
Leezar: I'm just not attracted to you!
Barbie Doll Anatomy: Julie. No explanation is given, though it's likely it's simply that he's a neuter homunculus.
Black Comedy Rape: The entire plot centers on the impending (less commonly played for laughs male-on-female) rape of Belladonna. But also...
Courtney and the minotaur.
Fabious and the Wise Wizard.
Blood Knight: Isabel. It kind of creeps Thadeous and the others out.
Booby Trap: One of these quickly kills The Barbarian.
Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Many examples, but one stands out: Thadeus' servant Courtney is skilled at pickpocketing because he grew up as a sex slave for gypsies. This helps them reclaim a MacGuffin and is never mentioned before or after explaining that.
Fake Brit: Basically the whole of the cast, but Word Of God says it's more or less a takeoff on all those sword and sorcery epics with actors attempting to replicate British accents and not always succeeding.
I Have You Now, My Pretty: Lazar's entire plan revolves around raping Belladonna to produce a dragon during the joining of the two moons. He also licks her cheek when he kidnaps her from the wedding.
Karmic Death: In the space of ten minutes, Julie is thrown down a shaft and lands on the Death Trap he put Fabious in, and Boremont's Blade Below The Shoulder is sliced off (with his arm!) and shoved into him.
Money, Dear Boy: Natalie Portman admitted she only did this movie because there was some uncertainty if Black Swan would get greenlit by a major studio. She signed on to this film for a paycheck and use it to help finance Black Swan herself, should the need have ever risen. However, Black Swan got greenlit and went underway fairly easily, and Natalie got stuck doing this film having already signed on.
Mysterious Woman: Isabel, before she reveals her backstory to the heroes.
It's vaguely hinted by observation. In the opening scene we have her knight ancestors blocking the magic with their armor and Isabel later claimed that her armband was made from her brothers' shields, assuming to be of the same make of the armor of their ancestors.
No Ontological Inertia: The sex spell on Belladonna ends as soon as Leezar's mothers are killed.
No Social Skills: Being locked in a tower since she was a young girl, Belladonna has no real clue about many social conventions, such as forks and choreographed dancing.
Pun-Based Title: Your Highness features two members of royalty who in one scene get stoned together.
Red Shirt: The two nameless prisoners alongside our heroes in Marteetee's arena.
Refuge in Vulgarity: Gay jokes? Check. Sex jokes? Check. Characters unable to go a few sentences without at least one swear word? Oh so very check.
Scarily Competent Tracker: Manious. Also a bit creepy/squick in that he tastes the blade of grass that he states has been urinated on, rather than just smelling it.
Shout Out: The barbarian the heroes meet in the bar is a clear shout-out to Conan the Barbarian. He's not quite as successful as Ahnold, however. Similarly, the practice moves Thadeous goes through after he obtains the Blade of the Unicorn mirrors a scene from that movie.
Simon, Fabious's mechanical bird, is a reference to Bubo from Clash of the Titans.
The Wise Wizard is Yoda crossed with the smoking caterpillar. Leezar and his mothers even have Force Lightning.
To just about every fantasy movie from the eighties on, really. Much of the design and special effects resemble Willow, not least of which is the multi-headed dragon. A scene in a montage references the Gates of Argonath from The Fellowship of the Ring. The set during the Labyrinth sequence is very similar to, well, Labyrinth.
Belladonna, having No Social Skills due to her backstory, uses a fork as a comb before being instructed on its proper use.
Star Derailing Role: Averted. The lead, Danny McBride, is a successful director with no interest in any acting more strenuous than cameos. He was starring in this film to payback a favour to an old friend who featured, naked, in one of his film school projects.
Total Eclipse of the Plot: Leezar's ritual must be performed during "the joining of the two moons", which appears to be an eclipse of one moon by the other, and happens once every hundred years.
Throw It In: Reportedly, the whole script was like this. The film's writers (one of which was also the star) had written an outline but ended up filming without a finished script and let the actors ad-lib everything.
Uptown Girl: Gender inversion - Thadeous is a prince and while his reputation isn't great, all indications are the kingdom is rich and important. Meanwhile Isabel is a commoner and a homeless adventuress.
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