Ekki-ekki-ekki-ekki-z'Bang zoom-Boing z'nourrrwringmmmni

Rating: 9/10 (28 September 2004)

First of all I think it's unfair of comedies to get a big cult status. If the best jokes come too well known, the element of surprise is gone. This happened to me for example in the case of This is Spinal Tap. I had heard about the Stonehenge gag, the amplifier that goes up to 11 and the part where they get lost. So, if you haven't seen this movie yet, I suggest you wouldn't read this, because it really does spoil great comedy, if you know too much about it in the first place.
The movie is set in medieval England ...or is it? Maybe I should start again.
This one is probably the funniest of all Monty Python movies, but not the best. The clever satire of Life of Brian and the wonderful visual feast of the Meaning of Life make them superior to this. There's really not anything more than a bunch of typical pythonesque sketches in this one. Which, of course isn't a bad thing at all.
It's said often, that because the movie's budget was very low is why they had to use the infamous coconuts instead of horses. But then again, how come they had enough money for the Trojan rabbit, the army of celts in the end or Tim the enchanter's explosions? Well, most of the action sequences are animated anyway. And that's another plus, because this is the only Python movie, where the great Terry Gilliam animations pop up as often as they did in Flying Circus. Maybe because making them gave Terry a heart attack (in the movie, at least), he only animated the opening credits in LOB and MOL. Too bad, because this has also the best and funniest opening credits, ever! Signed, Richard M. Nixon.
The Pythons really are genius in both writing and acting. Particularly funny are Cleese as the Frenchman and the Black Knight, Chapman as King Arthur, Palin as the leader of the knights of Ni and Dennis, Idle as the Dead Collector and Sir Robin, Jones as Prince Herbert and sir Bedevere and even the rarely seen Terry Gilliam has his Bridgekeeper, one of the funniest characters of the whole movie. All of the characters have also enormous amounts of memorable quotes and that makes this without a doubt the most quoted movie of all times. That just proves that even if the movie has some years to it, it hasn't lost any of it's appeal just because some new comedies like There's something about Mary and American Pie go even deeper into the pile of bad taste. Give me the cartoon-violent Black Knight scene over the sperm-as-hair-gel any day!
***** (9/10)
The best part: (SPOILERs) The hack 'n slash Black Knight scene is the best splatter sequence from a non-splatter movie! Also I really love the Bridge of Death (Answer these questions three: What is your name? What is your quest? What is your favorite colour? You wouldn't think answering those could be THAT hard) and of course, everyone's favorite monster, the Killer rabbit and favourite villains, the Knights who say Ni (or Ekki-ekki-ekki-ekki-z'Bang zoom-Boing z'nourrrwringmmmni) who want some nice shrubberies, which are not too expensive and make people cut down trees with a herring.