Now you may wonder why having the wonderful actor Alan Rickman stealing the show with his classic portrayal of the Sheriff of Nottingham is a Con. Well, that's because the Sheriff is the "Bad Guy." When your main character is the legendary Robin Hood, you're NOT supposed to be rooting for the bad guy.
And that's a big problem of Robin Hood Prince of Thieves: actor Kevin Costner doesn't manage to bring out Robin Hood's swashbuckling dazzle. He comes across as a goodhearted, falliable, normal man, and ends up being a satisfactory, but thoroughly unmemorable character.
Alan Rickman, on the other hand, turns on the charm as he swaggers and sneers and prances from one corner of the screen to another, spreading his evil plans all over the town. He practically fizzes with energy, spits out the best one-liners, and manages to add enough character depth to make you sympathize with him. At end of the movie, during the swordfighting showdown between Robin Hood and him, Robin plows on as the Sheriff hops around him like an evil fairy. When the Sheriff dies -- and I'm not ruining the movie for you because in formulaic
movies like this one the villain always dies -- you want to boo, because now the fun is over.
If Kevin Costner had possessed as much magnetism and charm as Rickman, this movie would have been MUCH less stilted in the acting department, and we would have found ourselves cheering for the legendary Robin Hood, as we're supposed to do, instead of guiltily waiting for the next Sheriff scene to relieve us of Costner's drab speeches to the members of Sherwood Forest.
But if you're willing to overlook the dull acting on the main character's part, there are plenty of high points in this movie that makes it a good viewing with the family, or with some friends.
First, as I said before, Alan Rickman's Sheriff that you'll remember and be quoting from for a long time to come. ("Robin of Locksley, I'll cut your heart out with a spoon!" "Why a spoon, cousin? Why not an axe?" "Because it's DULL, you twit, it'll HURT more!") Also, brilliant to solid acting from all the secondary characters, including Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.
Secondly, the story is a classic Good vs. Evil tale that doesn't require you to think too much about controversial issues, and ends on a warm and fuzzy happily-ever-after note. Basically, the plot is set in the 1200's (I think), when Robin Hood returns to England from his imprisonment in the Middle East to find that his land is being taken over by the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. Robin and a band of poor people hurt by the Sheriff's rule then relocate to the woods, where they build up an "army" to defeat the Sheriff. Meanwhile, Robin romances the lovely Maid Marian (who is related to the King), whom the Sheriff wants to forcibly marry so he can legitimately rule the land.
The on-location scenes are quite big in scale and impressive. The sets are also very well constructed, making everything seem realistically Old England, instead of simply like movie props. The costumes thankfully do not fall into the Robin Hood stereotype, and gives Robin Hood a normal historical outfit, instead of ridiculous green elf-tights.
The action sequences are all tightly paced and exciting, utilizing big and impressive special effects, like setting the forest ablaze and using copius amounts of gunpowder. Unfortunately the movie runs a little long, and some of the in-between scenes can drag, especially when Robin Hood takes the dramatic forefront and attempts to deliver an inspiring speech to his Merry Men.
But all in all, if you are looking for a solid historical action movie to watch, this would be a good pick.
<<DVD>>
If you're debating whether to buy this 2 disc special edition DVD or the regular DVD, get this one. The regular edition splits the movie up into 2 discs, which is more than annoying. This 2 disc DVD has the movie on one, and has loads of supplementary information on the other.
The quality of the movie, musicwise and visualwise, is great. The supplementary disc comes loaded with cast interviews, the movie soundtrack, lots of making-ofs, historical information on Robin Hood (narrated by Pierce Brosnan for all you Brosnan fans)... if you like supplementary material, this edition will not fail to satisfy you.
Most importantly, this special edition DVD has about 10 minutes of extra footage than the theatrical release, all scenes of the Sheriff of Nottingham that Costner originally ordered to be cut because he felt that Rickman was upstaging him. (Deadpan.) I feel like the extra footage actually speeds up the film, because the Sheriff always captures your attention and makes everything more colorful.
So... basically, if you want to buy this movie, get the 2 disc special edition. If you are a big fan of Alan Rickman, and for some inexplicable reason have not seen this flick, SEE IT. If you're looking for an action movie, I would recommend this to you, but don't get your hopes up too far, because it might disappoint.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2007 - Action/Adventure - Director: Paul Greengrass - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Joan Allen, Edgar Ramirez, David Strathairn, Paddy Considine, Albert Finney
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
i think it was really good but quite long but still i liked this and yes alan rickman stole the show!
emmaewok 08.02.2005 09:22
I loved this film when I was younger. I got to sit on that cataplut thing when we went to Nottingham on a schooltrip as well (they had the props in a musuem there). Alan Rickman does indeed make this movie.
MAFARRIMOND 01.10.2004 20:13
A wonderful film and well reviewed. Alan Rickman did steal the film from Costner - one of the best baddies ever. Maureen
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Oct 1st, 2004
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