Touches You

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Best movie ever!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

"Bill" is a funny movie that appeals on two levels. As an adult, I like comedy that refers to real historic events and people. But I imagine children will also enjoy the silly acting and more obvious jokes. I am an old fan of Monty Python and see similarities to that style. However, my review is as an American who has never seen "Horrible Histories" on British TV, nor was familiar with any of the actors. It appears some reviewers get hung up on that relationship. But I feel this movie entertains quite well on its own merits.

After reading the recent review taking people who rated this film highly to task, I decided to go back and rephrase my own post. I also knocked my rating down to 7, which I hate to do because I'm a hardcore fan of the Yonderlanders*, but I also don't want to disappoint people who come to Bill expecting Monty Python and the Holy Grail and are horribly disappointed. No, the Yonderlanders aren't Monty Python. Having a comedic style evolved from performing together in a BBC educational children's show rather than from Oxbridge revues, and being young enough to be the Pythons' grandkids, their style of humor is more millennial: more sharply focused and socially responsible. This film is probably not the best introduction to the art of the Yonderlanders. It's much slower and more structured than their TV work. Horrible Histories is a slam-bang Sesame Street-style variety show, and Yonderland reminds me of nothing so much as an updated version of the classic Harvey Kurtzman era Mad Comics, packed with so many gags you need to study them with a magnifying glass to catch them all. I think established fans of the Yonderlanders' work will like this and "get" it in a way newcomers probably won't. *my term for the core group of performer-writers in large part responsible for the brilliant first five seasons of the live action Horrible Histories franchise, who later branched out on their own with the phenomenal comedy series Yonderland and feature film Bill: Matt Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, and Ben Willbond.

A very entertaining, irreverent take on how Shakespeare rose to fame. It's really quite silly but on the same hand quite consistent with its own internal logic. (Unlike say Pan or Prometheus which are both a narrative mess where characters completely flip- flop for no other reason than the writer was too thick or lazy to find another way to progress the plot)King Phillip II of Spain is a joyously dickish main antagonist with some great one liners. Sir Francis Walsingham is just bizarre and Bill himself is charmingly gormless.The film left me with a smile on my face and kinda wishing I got a few more of the Shakespeare references. It also has me randomly blurting out 'King Phillip the Second of Spain' on occasion. Well done Team Horrible Histories!

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.