Too much of everything

Purely Joyful Movie!

just watch it!

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Can't help but feel that the motivation for making this was Shakespeare's anniversary rather than the strength of the storyline.The ensemble cast are excellent in Horrible Histories and I enjoy their individual comedy outings too. This is not in the same vein. It raises a chuckle but is not a comedy, and it is not a family film either. It has the whiff of an exercise in ticking boxes.There is a strand of a plot in there, but a lot of it becomes muddled and there is an unnecessarily juvenile aspect to some of the humour. VReminds me a little too much of the sixth-form common room. Production values are good, as are the performances. But it is essentially forgettable, whereas Horrible Histories is a work of genius.

Talking to a friend about what her kids had recently become interested in,she mentioned that along with the Goosebumps books that they had recently been watching the BBC series Horrible Histories a lot.Taking a look round a local DVD shop a few days later,I was happily surprised to discover that the Horrible Histories team had made a movie!,which led to me getting ready to meet Bill.The plot:Sacked by his band Mortal Coil, William 'Bill' Shakespeare starts to think about what job he can now do.Since he has written a play over the last few years, Shakespeare decides to go against the wishes of his wife Anne Hathaway and leave Stratford-upon-Avon to make his name as a playwright in London.As Shakespeare gets advice on entering the stage world from Christopher Marlowe and gets offered funding from Juan, Earl of Croydon, King Phillip II of Spain starts making plans to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I.View on the film:Following Shakespeare round London in a great tracking shot which breaths in the muck covering London,director Richard Bracewell and cinematographer Laurie Rose cast an enchanting atmosphere,by giving the title a sweet quirky appearance,where all of the historical figures look like they have one foot in a fantasy world. Splinting by its 90 minute running time,the superb screenplay by Laurence Rickard & Ben Willbond release the Barb's sonnet at lightning speed.Joyfully playing around with historical facts, (a ghost Christopher Marlowe!) Rickard and Willbond thread witty wordplay with cheerfully silly visual puns and catchy songs.Whilst the jokes bounce across the screen,the writers keep the footlights lit with a slick plot which links Shakespeare plays with masters of disguise and assassination attempts.Leaping to the big screen,the ensemble cast each give superb performances.Each taking on multiple roles,the cast give each part a unique quality,from Simon Farnaby making the Earl of Croydon desperate to be a socialite,to Mathew Baynton making "Bill" (who is pals with "Chris" Christopher Marlowe!) a wide-eyed fool,as Bill discovers the horrible histories.

There are to be peace talks between Queen Elizabeth I and King Phillip of Spain. Elizabeth wants to impress Phillip by presenting a play and the Earl of Croydon (or is it Crawley) foolishly offers his services while drunk. Fortunately, playwright William Shakespeare has just arrived in London to seek his fortune.There is a UK TV series, based on a series of kids' books, called Horrible Histories, and this is the first cinema outing for the repertory team behind that series: as with (for instance) the Monty Python team, most of the parts are played by the same handful of actors, with cameos from Damien Lewis and Helen McCrory.What we have is a "what might have been" story, packed with gags, most of which are a combination of silly and clever and based on anachronism (Shakespeare starts off as a member of a mandolin group called the Mortal Coils, sacked when he plays a modern guitar solo on his mandolin during a madrigal. After awkward goodbyes, one member of the group says "Well, we'll shuffle off then.") The anachronistic humour plays happily against the well realised period look of the piece – locations, costumes and sets all have a pleasingly authentic look to them.Sitting in a (sadly) empty cinema, I giggled throughout this.

The Horrible histories series is not only very educational but also good fun. However what works in a half hour TV show is a huge struggle to work in a feature film. Whilst there are some good gags in the script, a lot of them fall very flat too and in this respect I couldn't help but compare it being like a PG rated the 'League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse' from about a decade ago. The cast try hard but apart from Damian Lewis (who seems very comfortable in a classic Errol Flynn type role) the rest of the cast do sometimes overact, mugging at the camera slightly too much for my liking. It's a shame but not a surprise because the film cannot seem to decide if it is an extended episode or going for a Blackadder style take on history and the script reflects this, as it is neither one nor the other.Like I said, there are a few good laughs for kids and adults alike but it could have done with a few more as well. The idea of the story, of Shakespeare's pre-fame career, is a novel one and could have been a Monty Python style film for kids but somehow this effort feels a bit flat despite the best efforts of the cast. In this respect some of the blame must go on the script which sometimes lacks in places. Maybe youngsters will like it, fart gags and all, and it does make good use of its locations and period detail but it was not memorable which is a shame. However I hope the Horrible Histories team do get the chance to make another better film as this is isn't a disaster, more of a near miss.