"Looks like there's dirty work afoot!"

Rating: 8/10 (24 November 2011)

I don't go for straight slapstick, but when you have witty writing and dialog, along with clever sound and sight gags, I can get on board pretty easily. Irreverent is OK too as long as it's not being done maliciously, and I didn't get that sense of it in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". Here you have some inspired lunacy, even though it won't be for everyone's taste. Still you have to give it a shot just to have that well rounded viewing experience.
You'll also get a kick from picking out the main players in a variety of roles each, popping up here and there, mostly recognizable but sometimes not. Out of all the idiocy it's hard to pick a favorite, but I have to say, the killer rabbit coming out of nowhere is just so frantic and absurd that it'll make you double over. Layered onto all this nonsense are gems like the Castle Anthrax, Roger the Shrubber, Tim the Enchanter, the Cave of Caerbannog and the Bridge of Death. Did I mention the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch? - that's one more.
Watching today, I couldn't help but think how prophetic the Flying Circus writers were in describing the efforts today of the Occupy Wall Street movement in cities around the country with their own brand of 'anarcho-syndicalism'. Early in the picture, when asked by King Arthur where he got his wooden cart, the peasant replies - "By exploiting the workers. By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society." To which the rabble's partner interjects - "There's some lovely filth down here." It's easy to draw a comparison to the ninety nine per cent crowd railing against the one percent from whom they demand a hand-out. Which goes to show that the Monty Python brand of humor can be as timeless as it is hilarious.