Robin Hood
From AwardAnnals
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| Director(s) | Kevin Reynolds |
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| Subtitle | Prince of Thieves |
| Distributor | Warner Home Video |
| Honors | |
| Kevin Costner’s lousy English accent is a small obstacle in this often exciting version of the Robin Hood fable. That aside, it’s refreshing to have a preface to the old story in which we meet the robber hero of Sherwood Forest as a soldier in King Richard’s Crusades, coming home to find his people under siege from the cruelties of the Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman). After Robin and his community of outcasts and fighters take to the trees, director Kevin Reynolds (Fandango, 187) is on more familiar narrative ground, and he goes for the gusto… | |
Honors
Reviews
Amazon.com
Kevin Costner’s lousy English accent is a small obstacle in this often exciting version of the Robin Hood fable. That aside, it’s refreshing to have a preface to the old story in which we meet the robber hero of Sherwood Forest as a soldier in King Richard’s Crusades, coming home to find his people under siege from the cruelties of the Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman). After Robin and his community of outcasts and fighters take to the trees, director Kevin Reynolds (Fandango, 187) is on more familiar narrative ground, and he goes for the gusto with lots of original action (Robin shoots two arrows simultaneously from his bow in two directions). Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, as Marion, makes a convincing damsel in distress, and Morgan Freeman brings dignity to his role as Robin’s Moor friend. Alan Rickman, however, gets the most attention for his scene-chewing role as the rotten sheriff, an almost campy performance that is highly entertaining but perhaps a little out of sorts with the rest of the film. —Tom Keogh
Barnes and Noble
Kevin Costner’s action-packed 1991 retelling of the Robin Hood legend was the subject of some bad-mouthing in its day, but since then it has acquired a patina of respectability and is now recognized as the thoroughly entertaining swashbuckler it was intended to be. This revisionist take on the bandit of Sherwood Forest reflects not only a more fastidious approach to historically accurate period depiction, but also Hollywood’s latter-day penchant for updating mythological themes to conform with contemporary notions of political correctness. Therefore, Robin’s paramour, the lovely Maid Marian (played by the dazzling Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), is considerably more feisty and independent than in previous screen incarnations, and the hero’s most trusted sidekick is a wise, battle-hardened Moor (Morgan Freeman) who seems far more intelligent than the valiant champion he ostensibly serves. The basic story remains the same: Robin is the disgraced nobleman who fights for justice when a usurper seizes control of England while the king, Richard the Lion-Hearted, is off fighting in the Crusades. Director Kevin Reynolds labors mightily (and, it must be said, not always successfully) to keep his actors’ accents consistent, and he stages the film’s numerous action sequences with brio. His handling of the story makes the plight of the oppressed Britons more palpable and, in a way, more contemporary; but he harks back to the 1938 Errol Flynn version of the story by allowing Alan Rickman to play the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham in a sneering, leering, delightfully bravura fashion. Although it takes nearly an hour to set the stage and build momentum, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves eventually becomes a veritable juggernaut of rousing thrills and robust adventure. It’ll have the whole family cheering for more. Ed Hulse
