Doesn't Stand the Test of Time

Rating: 1/10 (6 January 2003)

I cannot feel that many people who have reviewed this film are overly nostalgic towards it. There is no question that the Python team were talented comedians; that this film was excellent in its time and that its influences are still being felt today. However when I watched it recently I barely laughed and could not help but feel that this film has been overhyped in the years since its release. I think The Life of Brian is still a great piece of comedy and can be enjoyed as much today as it could 20 years ago but not The Holy Grail. Having watched nearly every episode of sitcoms such as Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses and Blackadder before the film I can see that these shows have built on the comedy of The Holy Grail and are finer works because of it. But having seen these before the film I found the humour old fashioned, outdated and *gasp* predictable, something which would not be true when it was released. People have claimed that young people today do not 'get' comedies such as this but I would say that humour has evolved and now slicker, more sophisticated comedies have left dinosaurs such as this little more than reference points in comedy history.