ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES

Having just watched Ridley Scott's take on the Robin Hood legend I thought I would revisit this 1991 Kevin Costner vehicle, a huge commercial success, of which I had vaguely fond memories.

Well this time around I literally found it unwatchable - I gave up in disgust about 100 minutes in (one of its many faults is its length - 143 minutes).

Everything, and I mean everything, is poor or barely tolerable at best.  The music, editing, cinematography and direction are all sub-par.  The screenplay is execrable.  This is a film devoid of charm, wit, excitement, adventure, or romance.  Kevin Costner and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio are the dullest Robin Hood and Maid Marian imaginable, with zero chemistry between them. 

The tone of the film is both cartoonish a lot of the time yet also unpleasantly gory or grisly at others.  The climactic scene where the Sheriff of Nottingham tries to rape Marian somehow succeeds in being both.  

Morgan Freeman, as an improbable Moor who accompanies Robin back to England, tries to give a halfway decent performance among the nonsense that surrounds him.

The least said about the inclusion in proceedings of a witch, Mortianna, the better.

Even critics who didn't like the film overall were apt to praise Alan Rickman's performance as the Sheriff, for which he received a BAFTA award.  Good grief - his over-the-top and somewhat camp performance might have been acceptable in a Christmas pantomime but is a disaster here since it destroys what little reality the film is trying to hold on to.

So let me come off the fence - this is a film to be avoided at all costs.

RATING: xx Don't Waste Your Time