The Robin Hood story has always been a favourite of mine and I grew up watching the Disney version from 1973 (yes, the cartoon one) and Mel Brook’s Robin Hood: Men in Tights. In later years the BBC version in 2006 also became a favourite.

Yet despite Men in Tights being on high rotation, I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen Prince of Thieves and after Netflix flogging the fact it’s now available in the UK and Ireland, I succumbed, found another streaming service it was available for in my region, and gave it a go.

So first off, Men in Tights is such a great parody. Even though I haven’t watched it for years I could clearly see what character traits and scenes were used. It’s so well done; I can’t wait to re-watch Men in Tights again.

Which now brings us back to the focus of this review. If I had to describe the film in one word, it would be; Trashtastic.

I found it so camp and over the top. By the amount of laughing, you would think this would be a comedy.

The writing was poor, as were many of the action scenes, and I found the camera angles to be quite odd at times (take a look at the scene where the Sheriff is threating to cut out Will’s tongue). I’m not sure if there were going for something creative in that regard but it was just off putting with everything else going on.

Kevin Costner in the lead role of Robin doesn’t even attempt at an English accent, so I guess that it makes sense that in the casting of King Richard they would look no further than the master of accents, Sean Connery.

I would have liked to have seen more of Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Maid Marion. When we are first introduced to her there is promise of a stronger role however as the film processes, the female lead mostly ends up screaming for help from her lead male actor. This is more a reflection of the time the film was released and I’m glad to see in more recent adaptions Marion having more grit.

As for other casting notations I enjoyed the casting of Michael Wincott as the Guy of Gisborne. He is a favourite of mine from other classic 90s films such as The Crow and The Three Musketeers and Christian Slater as Will Scarlett is the perfect addition of eye candy. I wonder if this is the trend that started of Will always being the hot one? If you know, leave me a comment.

However, there is only one reason that you need to watch this film and his name is Alan Rickman. The eccentric performance he gives this film gives the impression he had a lot of fun with the role. He brings a camp, horny, over the topness energy and has most of if not all the best lines. From cancelling Christmas to threatening to cut your heart out with a spoon!

It doesn’t really bode well for a film where Morgan Freeman doesn’t get a mention here and one of the best features is a Bryan Adams song.

If you are a fan of Men in Tights but haven’t seen the source material, it’s worth a one time watch to see how good a parody it is. If you are an Alan Rickman fan, same thing, good for a one time watch for the performance alone.

And if you are a fan of Robin Hood, there are better adaptions out there.