Movie of the Week: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Alexa: I approached this movie with a similar attitude as I did The Jungle Book a few weeks ago. I’ve never been partial to Robin Hood – not even the animated Disney version – but I was willing to give Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves the benefit of the doubt. While Jon Favreau’s adaptation of The Jungle Book gave that story a fresh twist that resonated with me, this movie is just… bad. Like, painfully bad. Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood is wooden at best, and most of the other actors are not much better. The script is about as dimensional as a piece of cardboard, devoid of any sense of fun or adventure. The runtime is at least 45 minutes too long. And don’t even get me started on that out-of-place Bryan Adams song. The one brilliant beacon of light in this mess of a movie is Alan Rickman, who outshines everyone in his path whenever he’s on screen. I get the sense he knew the movie was terrible, but he had fun with his character and made it his own. It’s the mark of a truly talented actor, creating a stellar performance despite a dreadful script, and Rickman delivers.

Joel: You want to know a secret to getting a good review from me? Make your movie about Robin Hood. To this day every Robin Hood movie manages to hit that sweet spot of childlike joy that going to the movies can cause. Even if it’s a Robin Hood movie I’ve never seen before, the key Robin Hood moments (the staff fight with Little John, the splitting of an arrow, etc.) are still enough. That said, let’s discuss this Robin Hood movie specifically.

Prince of Thieves is very much a product of the 1990s. It’s a bloated epic that tries to simultaneously be a serious take on the subject as well as a fun action movie, a romance, and just about every other genre you can try and cram Robin Hood into. But it does the whole thing with such gusto, I’m inclined to write off a lot of things as fun that might be considered bad through another’s eyes. The action pieces are well done , if over the top, and they’re still fun sequences to watch today. And while the movie is unarguably long, it doesn’t drag. The whole thing movies a a pretty fast clip from start to finish, so while you’ll feel the time, it doesn’t bog down the movie as a whole.

But the highlight of the movie is easily Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham. The usual Robin Hood villain, Prince John, isn’t present in this telling of the story, which gives Rickman’s Sheriff more time to shine. It’s clear that Rickman realized this was a movie that was embracing the “everything, but bigger and more” feel of the movie and cranked up his scenery chewing to match. All in all, we get a big Robin Hood movie every generation or so, and this one fits in nicely into the look, the feel, and the style of the 1990s blockbuster movies.

Chris: Nostalgia can only carry a movie like this so far and there's not enough of that to cover this 2 1/2 movie. Don't get me wrong, five year old Chris ate this movie up (although he still preferred the Disney cartoon version) and even had a Kevin Costner Robin Hood action figure. But this movie tends to get panned pretty harshly these days and for good reason as it doesn't hold up well at all outside of Rickman's performance. I even read Alexa's review before rewatching the movie and I was ready to tear her review to shreds because she didn't see it when she was younger and she simply wouldn't understand but alas, she's right. The script is weak and the action sequences are almost absurd. If someone could recut this movie so that we only see Alan Rickman's scenes, I'd be a happy man.