Tension: Will they take over the kingdom and return it to the rightful ruler? Will the jester get caught/killed?
Theme: Friends have your back when you need it most
Writing: Pretty funny and it aged well. A masterclass in dramatic irony, had some SNL vibes but not in a bad way, lots of creative gags and plants/payoffs that made it fun to try and predict what would happen next. I did kinda forget what they were trying to accomplish at some points and got confused because the baby was there but I think that was more because I may have grabbed some food during one of the expo dumps lol. Stakes really kept escalating, and things went very wrong to suddenly go very right and back to wrong so if something felt unearned it didn’t last too long. Everyone had such clear motivations and goals, and they all involved the jester which was great. I do think Ravenhurst kinda lost his goal of taking over the throne once he realized the Jester wasn’t who he thought he was. Maybe that’s fine though. Also that poor old witch lady being told “if he dies you die” every 10 minutes rip haha. I loved how the jester was established to want to be a big fighter but his real strength was in performing and it really paid off and the reversal of Jean being the captain worked very well.
Acting: The Jester did such a good job sticking to his cues, especially with the spells and gags like the magnetism or the rhymes with the poison. But he had such range and did great improv even though it wasn’t it felt like it was. Jean also did a great job going back and forth between “I have the plague, don’t you want me?” to knocking people out. Her character in general got things done when no one else would.
Cinematography: visually there was a lot of fun stuff, like the conveyer belt of the king’s men being bounced left to right up and down then to the ocean. There was an interesting whip-pan at the beginning to another party. And I loved the change of angle during the first musical performance to reveal people awkwardly watching them when it felt like they were alone.
Production Design: All very fun and believable, must have been a lot of work to do that kind of a period piece, so many props and types of items to consider.
Sound: not much comes to mind besides the Jester’s songs.
Editing: not much coming to mind here either.
Tension: Will they take over the kingdom and return it to the rightful ruler? Will the jester get caught/killed?
Theme: Friends have your back when you need it most
Writing: Pretty funny and it aged well. A masterclass in dramatic irony, had some SNL vibes but not in a bad way, lots of creative gags and plants/payoffs that made it fun to try and predict what would happen next. I did kinda forget what they were trying to accomplish at some points and got confused because the baby was there but I think that was more because I may have grabbed some food during one of the expo dumps lol. Stakes really kept escalating, and things went very wrong to suddenly go very right and back to wrong so if something felt unearned it didn’t last too long. Everyone had such clear motivations and goals, and they all involved the jester which was great. I do think Ravenhurst kinda lost his goal of taking over the throne once he realized the Jester wasn’t who he thought he was. Maybe that’s fine though. Also that poor old witch lady being told “if he dies you die” every 10 minutes rip haha. I loved how the jester was established to want to be a big fighter but his real strength was in performing and it really paid off and the reversal of Jean being the captain worked very well.
Acting: The Jester did such a good job sticking to his cues, especially with the spells and gags like the magnetism or the rhymes with the poison. But he had such range and did great improv even though it wasn’t it felt like it was. Jean also did a great job going back and forth between “I have the plague, don’t you want me?” to knocking people out. Her character in general got things done when no one else would.
Cinematography: visually there was a lot of fun stuff, like the conveyer belt of the king’s men being bounced left to right up and down then to the ocean. There was an interesting whip-pan at the beginning to another party. And I loved the change of angle during the first musical performance to reveal people awkwardly watching them when it felt like they were alone.
Production Design: All very fun and believable, must have been a lot of work to do that kind of a period piece, so many props and types of items to consider.
Sound: not much comes to mind besides the Jester’s songs.
Editing: not much coming to mind here either.
