It's been said and proven a thousand times: at Hitek, we're big fans of fantasy. After several articles in which we took the time to defend and explore the genre's forgotten gems, this time we're bringing you the best comedies from these lands filled with wizards, monsters, and adventures. So, let's take a look back at 10 fantasy films and series designed to flatter your cheekbones:
#10 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor of Thieves
If you're a regular reader of the site and our fantasy articles, you know: at Hitek, we're completely addicted to Dungeons & Dragons: Honor of Thieves. And actually, it's because we've already sold it to you in all the sauces in all our articles that we don't put it higher in the ranking. However, it's a fact: this new film from the D&D role-playing game franchise is certainly one of the best fantasy, adventure, and comedy films released in the last 10 years. Far from the first stinkers and turkeys that tarnished the history of the license in the early 2000s, this Honor of Thieves is a really good film and a really good comedy. Based on the adventures of a group of slightly loser adventurers, the story tells us a beautiful quest for redemption that is really worth discovering and which we tell you more about here and there (among other places).
#9 The Legend of Vox Machina
Adapted from the game sessions of the Critical Role collective, the animated series from Amazon Prime mixes heroic epic and schoolboy delirium with infectious pleasure. Here, there are no valiant knights with immaculate values, but a band of adventurers as clumsy as they are uncouth. Behind its often trashy humor and its crazy characters, Vox Machina never forgets to be a true fantasy series. Between epic battles, betrayals and threats far too great for them, our antiheroes find themselves plunged into adventures where danger is as omnipresent as alcohol. While the artistic direction often gives the impression of having already seen the characters and settings a thousand times elsewhere, the story has the advantage of being one of the most ambitious animated series of its kind.
#8 Princess Bride
The problem with Princess Bride is a bit the same as that Dungeons & Dragons: A Thief's Honor: we've already talked about it a thousand times. The only difference is that it would be purely criminal to put this masterpiece lower in the ranking. A true monument of the genre, The Princess Bride is still a huge source of inspiration for many other films and series, some of which are included in this ranking. Indeed, it's hard not to see the borrowings from the style, humor, or generosity of The Princess Bride in works like A Thieves' Honor (it again) or the series Galavant, which we'll talk about again later in this ranking. The Princess Bride is a film that exudes a passion for fantasy in all its forms and, what's more, offers some of the best gags seen in this kind of universe. Moreover, 40 years after its release, the film is still the source of many memes on the web today.
#7 Tigtone
Tigtone is certainly the least known series in this file. Very little broadcast in France, never dubbed in French and intended for an informed audience, the series starts with some major handicaps in reaching the general public. And yet, Tigtone is indeed a rare gem. Tigtone is above all a parody series that takes fantasy clichés and pushes them to their limits. The hero Tigtone is a moron completely obsessed with the idea of going on a quest.
His heroic adventures are a kind of drug for him, for which he would be ready to do anything and everything, even destroying cities or dismantling his allies. Everything is bathed in a unique visual style, with settings that cite some of the greatest fantasy illustrators and a strange animation between motion capture and flash animation. Tigtone thus fuses homage and satire, while fully embracing a legacy that comes as much from Tolkien as your worst game of Dungeons & Dragons. (By the way, interesting detail: if you're into the Tigtone universe, an official and free role-playing game campaign is legally available here).
#6 Your Highness
While fantasy often evokes epics and nobility, Your Highness prefers crude humor and absurd situations. Of course, if Danny McBride's universe doesn't speak to you, the film might not be your cup of tea. Yet, behind its childish tone, it offers a surprisingly ambitious fantasy world. We follow Thadeous, a cowardly and lazy prince, forced to help his brother Fabious save his fiancée from a lecherous sorcerer. Between an overly virile Minotaur, scantily clad Amazons and moronic barbarians, Your Highness strings together questionable jokes with generosity. But it is above all in its pure fantasy sequences that the film surprises, with a rich and uninhibited lore capable of seducing fans of the genre.
#5 Puss in Boots 2: The Last Wish
Behind his shiny boots and his irresistible kitten-like gaze, Puss in Boots has always been more than just a sidekick to Shrek. After a first film which, despite mixed success, had already seduced the most curious fantasy fans, the cunning feline returns with the excellent The Last Wish. An adventure worthy of the greatest epics of the genre, the film never denies its burlesque origins and offers a good dose of humor and self-deprecation.
The legendary Puss in Boots finds himself facing his greatest fear: death. Having wasted eight of his nine lives, he embarks on a perilous quest to restore his precious lifeblood. In addition to being consistently very funny, the film tackles surprisingly adult themes and demonstrates impressive creativity. Between two very cartoonish gags, it even manages to brilliantly renew certain codes and concepts of fantasy.
#4 Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness
The first Evil Dead was the perfect prototype of the "cabin in the woods" horror film. This first feature film by Sam Raimi has since been copied a thousand times and never truly equaled. However, from this first, penniless shoot with his band of passionate friends, Sam Raimi already saw further and thought that a sequel set in the Middle Ages, entitled "Medievil Dead", would be a great concept. It would take more than a decade and a fair few misadventures before realizing his dream with Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness. Here, the hero Ash finds himself in a strange Middle Ages where magicians, witches, demons and armies of the undead rub shoulders in a visual delirium full of dark humor.
Army of Darkness transforms the heroic epic into joyful chaos where the hero, armed with a chainsaw, a shotgun and some basic mechanics, will help two warring kingdoms unite against an evil army. Arrogant, clumsy, and always quick to deliver punchlines as corny as they are silly, the hero, played by the great Bruce Campbell, has since become a pop culture icon. Delirious, visually inventive, and full of iconic scenes, Army of Darkness quickly transcended its status as a horror comedy to become one of the best American fantasy films.
#3 Galavant
Galavant is arguably one of the most underrated series of the decade. This musical fantasy comedy, which aired on ABC in 2015, mixes humor, adventure, and songs in a pure fantasy universe. The story follows Galavant, a handsome knight with a dazzling smile, who sets out to save his beloved Madalena from the clutches of the evil King Richard. Except that once he arrives, he realizes that Madalena, now queen, is perfectly satisfied with the social advancement that this kidnapping has allowed her. Galavant then sinks into alcohol (but in song!) and will have to take his life and his heroism back in hand.
Far from being a simple "heroic-humorous" epic, Galavant outwits the expectations with its twists and turns, each one more brilliantly, by choice stupid, nasty or unexpected than the last. The humor and gags are often fueled by double meanings that really enrich the narrative and are not just there for the slaughter that this kind of series should require. As for the very many songs, composed by Alan Menken, they totally assume their kitsch side to better play on it, but also to move the story forward. Although the series didn't find its audience when it aired, it became a true cult object for the lucky few who were able to discover it at that time.
#2 Kaamelott
Inspired by the Arthurian legend, Kaamelott was able to return to the basics of fantasy to offer a down-to-earth and therefore hilarious reinterpretation of the myth. Here, setting out on a quest for the Grail is a real hassle: knights who are never ready, incompetent and grumpy, druids and enchanters more interested in business and chestnut jam, and a Lady of the Lake with clues that are far too enigmatic... Nothing is right in this version of the kingdom of Logres.
By blending the great classics of French popular culture, from Asterix to the films of Louis de Funès, while injecting references to Star Wars and Michael Mann's Heat, Alexandre Astier has created a monument of comedy. Twenty years later, Kaamelott continues to fascinate thousands of fans, who await each new film or comic strip with undisguised impatience.
#1 Monty Python: Holy Grail!
The legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is definitely an excellent basis for laughing at fantasy. The very English group of comedians, Monty Python, understood this well. With Monty Python: Holy Grail!, the Arthurian legend becomes the pretext for a flood of totally absurd and "nonsensical" gags. Here, knights debate the origins of swallows, scribes write their last death rattles, a killer rabbit can defeat a dozen knights in arms, and you can negotiate with the enemy by offering them a beautiful little garden.
Playing with the codes of fantasy and medieval history, Monty Python delivers a film packed with cult lines and scenes. The film's influence goes far beyond mere pastiche: it has influenced generations of comedians and continues to inspire pop culture, from Kaamelott to The Legend of Vox Machina. Nearly 50 years after its release, Sacré Graal remains an essential reference for comedy and parody of the fantasy genre.
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