by Lisa Nystrom
Worth: $12.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Emily Bader, Edward Bluemel, Jordan Peters, Anna Chancellor, Rob Brydon
Intro:
Unfortunate humour aside, the swords and sorcery side of things is surprisingly fun, and there’s a quirky kind of charm to be found in a series that defies any attempt to take it seriously.
Lady Jane Grey, great grand-niece of Henry VIII, was queen of England, France, and Ireland for all of nine days before her cousin Mary had her executed and claimed the throne for herself in 1554. Certainly a tragic tale, and yet in 2016, authors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows decided that just because the history books say this is how the story goes, doesn’t mean they have to agree.
Fast forward 470 years from her real-life fateful end, and the Jane making her debut on our screens is still a teenager, still cousin to the king, but now instead of Protestant versus Catholic, it’s a battle between Eδians and Verities, magical shapeshifters and the ordinary, non-powered folk who want to see all magic users eradicated. Jane might not be born with magic, but she is born with beauty and a title, and that’s enough to land a different kind of target on her back, the kind that ends with an unwanted ring on Jane’s finger and money in her scheming mother’s purse.
Adapted from novel to screen by Gemma Burgess, it’s an outrageous but extremely watchable period comedy, packed full with rebellious outlaws, best friends who turn into birds, a malicious murder plot, a ghostly grandmother, all set in a fairytale world with modern embellishments. Bowie, The Beatles, and a cover of Soft Cell’s ‘Tainted Love’ play over tavern brawls and horse chases, while characters drop one-liners like “not today, satan” and “as if” (although, if we’re being honest, those hardly qualify as modern). Although the temptation is there, we won’t be comparing this to The Princess Bride, if only because that would do a disservice to both stories which, outside of their satirical, irreverent tone and their choice of narrator as a framing device, are really nothing alike.
My Lady Jane is at its peak when the cast give in to the goofiness of it all; Dominic Cooper and Rob Brydon clash particularly well as Lords Seymour and Dudley, with their constant failed attempts at one-upmanship and absurd banter. Meanwhile, Emily Bader and Edward Bluemel share a mutual chemistry as reluctant newlyweds Lady Jane and Lord Guildford that somehow manages to outweigh the awkwardness of a narrator who does little more than stand in place of a laugh track, in the hopes of reminding the audience that this is all very funny actually and you should laugh now.
Unfortunate humour aside, the swords and sorcery side of things is surprisingly fun, and there’s a quirky kind of charm to be found in a series that defies any attempt to take it seriously.
