Rating: B
Dir: Mel Brooks.
Star: Cary Elwes, Roger Rees, Richard Lewis, Amy Yasbeck.
I enjoyed this one considerably more than Spaceballs, despite not having seen Prince of Thieves – or, indeed, any Robin Hood film in particular. I think the main reason for this is Elwes, whose lead performance hits it out of the park. It feels like he is running back his character from The Princess Bride, both playing homage to and making (gentle) fun of a role which was itself something of a parody. He’s certainly an improvement over Pullman as a hero. Indeed, it works better as a general depiction of the character. As Robin says in a pointed aside, “Unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent.” [Though in the Hungarian dub, the line became, “Because unlike Kevin Costner, I have a shapely bottom,” mocking Costner’s use of a body double]
Despite my general ignorance of cinematic Robins, the story itself is easily familar enough, and hits many of the most well-known points, e.g. evil Sheriff of “Rottingham” (Rees), the archery contest, etc. Though as with the Roman scene in History of the World, there are scenes where it feels like Monty Python got there first. In particular, the one where Robin has to battle Little John to cross a bridge, seems very much inspired by the Black Knight scene in Holy Grail. Then again, Brooks is also riffing off his own back catalogue by this point, recycling lines like “It’s good to be the king.” To some, that may seem lazy. I found it an amusing acknowledgement of what has gone before. It helps that the supporting cast are excellent, from a very early Dave Chappelle appearance, through to Dom DeLuise’s pitch-perfect imitation of Marlon Brando as Don Corleone. Yet there is more here than simply pop-culture references. I find the actual jokes here superior to Spaceballs. Witness the exchange between Robin and his servant, detailing all the tragedies while Robin was away, building to:
“My goldfish, Goldie?
“Eaten by the cat.”
“My cat?”
“Choked on the goldfish.”
Brooks’ fondness for a good musical number rears its head again, and I think to better effect. This begins right at the start, with a troupe of black Merry Men delivering the Sherwood Forest Rap: “”Hey nonny nonny, and a ho ho ho!” It likely reaches its peak with Men In Tights: “We’re men, we’re men in tights. We roam around the forest looking for fights.” If you are hearing further echoes of Python there – and in particular The Lumberjack Song – you are not alone. It doesn’t have the tightness of peak Python, but given this came out a decade after that clan’s final movie, it’s still considerably better than nothing. I’m fine with the recycling of some jokes too – Igor’s movable hump becomes the nomadic mole on the face of Prince John (Lewis) – because, hey, they are still funny. The new stuff isn’t so bad either, and from Tracey Ullman to Isaac Hayes, I can’t think of anyone here who is not giving their all.