★★
Atti, a smart and quick-witted Roman teenager, manages to upset Emperor Nero with one of his schemes. For punishment, Atti is sent to work in a cold and wet Britain where he also meets the Celts.
Classification: PG
While charming due to the talent of its considerable cast of British comedic stars and newcomers, the majority of Horrible Histories meanders through stale comedy, awkward musical numbers and stilted scope in its retelling of Roman history. While the execution is reminiscent of the television series, director Dominic Brigstocke isn't able to bring anything cinematic to the table with the cinematography and production design being particularly bland. The script places a predictable "enemies to allies story" into the Celtic rebellion against the Roman empire led by Boudicca. Famous historical figures are parodied along the way with considerable whimsy, standouts being Craig Roberts as the childish Emperor Nero and Rupert Graves as the pompous General Paulinus.
Even though the main narrative is predictable it is the chemistry of the two leads, Emilia Jones and Sebastian Croft is the most enjoyable element of the film. While most of the scenes in Horrible Histories take on a farcical tone, Jones and Croft give the film needed emotional grounding as their friendship grows through their skirmishes against each other, Celtic tribes and the Roman army. The comedy of the film is a mixed bag while keeping lighthearted and family-friendly some of the gags just aim for the most obvious marks and doesn't offer anything clever. Brigstocke does a fine job of continuing the franchise's tradition of educational value as the story, music and structure do allow for the younger audiences to learn about the cultures being parodied before them. The humour derived from Roman and Celtic cultures is never insulting but contemporary by creating their characters into easily digestible stereotypes.
The performances are split between characters relevant to the story and cameos, the pedigree of British talent on display at times is enough to elevate Horrible Histories but never enough to make the whole cinematic experience consistent. The pacing between the main storyline and the interludes of Boudicca, Nero or Paulinus while expanding upon the educational elements of the plot just drag out an obvious plotline and distracts from any possible character development. Essentially because of the wide berth of characters when Brigstocke puts focus on a cameo, or another senseless gag rather than the relationship between Jones and Croft the film suffers.
It's not offensive but not overly clever, it a serviceable family-friendly comedy that does its part to educate but its relevancy isn't made clear. The cheap quality of the production can be distracting at times and really undercuts the lessons the film may be trying to get across rather replacing them with banal jokes or middling musical numbers. For fans of the franchise Rotten Romans is probably a fine addition which continues the traditions of the show but for newcomers the lack of cinematic flair makes the overall product seem more like a television special than an actual film.
Director: #DominicBrigstocke
Cast: #EmiliaJones, #SebastianCroft, #NickFrost, #CraigRoberts, #KateNash, #RupertGraves, #AlexMacqueen, #LeeMack, #WarwickDavis, #SanjeevBhaskar, #AlexanderArmstrong, #ChrisAddison, #DerekJacobi, #KimCattrall
Release Date: July 26th 2019
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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