The quality quotient ranges from the magnificent Safety Last! to the pantheon of comedy with exclamation points in the title! and — Airplane, hail the king! to The Killer Tomatoes’ pathetic attack! and Come to an End! Otherwise, my mother will shoot. Seize Them, Curtis Vowell style! lies in the middle of the group; it’s a fun, profane medieval comedy that hits and misses equally but succeeds because of its charming cast and unabashedly savage nature.
The Horrible Histories film and Seize Them! were both written by screenwriter Andy Riley, who also co-wrote The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists! and Ruddy Hell! It’s Harry and Paul. Andy Riley loves an exclamation mark! exchanges some, but not all, of the HH DNA. During a dinner scene reminiscent of Carry On Up The Khyber, arrogant, brash Queen Dagan (Aimee Lou Wood, who seems to be channeling Blackadder’s Queenie but finds her own groove as the character softens) is toppled by despot-in-waiting “Humble” Joan (Nicola Coughlan), who is having a blast. After Dagan is saved by her astute servant Shulmay (Lolly Adefope), the unusual pair sets out to seek refuge with Dagan’s royal Scandi cousins, who are portrayed by Paul Kaye and John Macmillan as joking brothers.
Although it’s not all that successful and is as inexpensive as old chips, the core troika has endearing chemistry with one another.
While traveling, the group quickly meets the obedient but thick-headed peasant Bobik (Nick Frost), a “shit spader” who was raised in a bin, dressed in nettles as a toddler (his first word was “ouch”), and who performs a hilarious list of the various kinds of excrement he shovels. Shortly after, Jessica Hynes’s obstinate courtesan Leofwine follows the trio as they stumble upon James Acaster, a traveling ironmonger; they also encounter a man-wolf in a forest, struggle to dispose of a dead body, and experience a low-key Spaced reunion as a result of Frost and Hynes sharing the screen.
The center troika has likeable chemistry, with the always dependable Adefope providing both laughs and a surprisingly emotional undercurrent. However, it’s as cheap as old chips and doesn’t land. So not so much a fun jaunt as a fun jaunt!