Only it isn’t. And it isn’t only because they sold me the ticket to the wrong film, which they blatantly did here. Just because you get Danny McBride, Justin Theroux and the director of Pineapple Express at work, it doesn’t, I’ve learned, mean you’re necessarily going to get a comedy at the end of it. For, as it turns out, Your Highness has far more fun being a posh-looking, 80s-style fantasy movie than it does being a comedy. Which is no bad thing in itself, but there’s clearly potential here for so much more. But, what’s this? Just as Fabious is about to wed Belladonna (the woefully underused Zooey Deschanel), she’s kidnapped by the evil Leezar, played by Justin Theroux. This means that Fabious and Thadeous have to stand side by side and head off to the rescue. Which is just about where the comedy slows down and the adventure kicks in. Your Highness has a lot of fun on the quest, too, throwing in some genuinely impressive special effects work, lots of genre elements, and a fun leading performance by McBride (who co-wrote the script). Back to Your Highness, though, and when it does remember to throw in comedy moments, such as Fabious and Thadeous heading off to get some advice early in the movie, it’s genuinely funny. But the rest of the jokes are spaced way too far apart, and too many people are underused. In particular, Justin Theroux is great whenever he’s on screen, but that’s nowhere near enough. Natalie Portman, meanwhile, struggles in a comedy for the second time this year, although her action sequences are far, far more impressive. James Franco, meanwhile, comes across as if he’s continuing his stint hosting the Oscars. Pitching his performance just a little over the top, his fixed grin and worthy hero demeanour holds together, and I’d happily sit through a further quest in the company of Franco and McBride. But, for that to work, some firmer decisions need to be made. Because I maintain that Your Highness is a fun fantasy movie that perhaps feels a little too long, but does entertain. Yet, it’s much, much less successful as a comedy (the genuinely funny joke count is really quite low), relying too heavily on a quick swear word to try and remind us that it’s trying to pillage jokes from its central concept. The sequences that genuinely marry up comedy and fantasy together are, inevitably, amongst the best, and that’s the sweetspot that Your Highness 2 would have to hit. Because Your Highness 1 doesn’t manage it. To paraphrase the film, it needs more comedy magic, motherfucker. Follow Den Of Geek on Twitter right here.