Bill Review - A Comedy With a Plot

Comedies aren't particularly known for their plots. They're almost always extremely messy and often quite forced, clearly just existing to set up the jokes and to give the film a reason to be a film in the first place, as opposed to just a stand-up routine. Now, as a result of this, most comedies are reviewed based on the quality of their jokes, as no one is really expecting anything good (or really anything at all) in the story and the character departments. I did this in my Night at the Museum 3 review, although I did still briefly mention how the plot wasn't that good.

So, taking all of this into account, imagine my surprise when Bill turned out to be not only extremely funny, but also surprisingly well written on a story and character level. Admittedly, I wasn't expecting anything less in the humour department, especially from the Horrible Histories crew. I've mentioned before about how much I love the programme (although I must admit I never really did get into series 6), mainly for its excellent sense of humour and Bill is no exception. I do think, in fact, that Bill might even be funnier than Horrible Histories. It manages to get a blend of smart Historical and Shakespearean references, excellent visual gags and silly, but still enjoyable, slapstick humour, resulting in a mix that will definitely appeal to everyone at some point, or if you're like me, throughout the entire film.

What really impressed me with Bill, however, was not the humour, but the story and the characters. They're not exactly masterpieces in their field by any means, but they certainly do a lot more than they really needed to do. The film manages to blend the main character's (who, funnily enough, is William Shakespeare) journey to discovering his writing talent really well with a panto like storyline involving King Phillip II of Spain trying to blow up Queen Elizabeth. As I said before, it isn't the most complex plot filled with twists and turns at every second, with the most detailed characters ever written, but it works surprisingly well as a plot in its own right and not just something there to give the jokes more context.

Although Bill's excellent sense of humour came as no surprise to me, the film's surprisingly good storyline and characters did, adding another layer of quality to an already wonderfully enjoyable piece of cinema from the hilarious crew behind Horrible Histories.

Bill - Overall Score: 8/10

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