Robin Hood: Men In Tights
In his later years, Mel Brooks has proven himself to be pretty hit or miss with his irrelevant movie comedy style that was perfected by the ZAZ team, and this effort, an attempt to skewer the Costner version of the story, is no exception, coming out with an extremely unfunny first half that begins with an unnecessary rap song to “introduce” the story and then having scene after scene of lame gags and groan-inducing puns that elicit no laughter from the viewer, topped off by the awful Home Alone spoof. The second half does pick up considerably though, marked by Dom Deluise’s cameo doing a Brando parody. The dialogue gets noticeably better and more amusing (“He looks like Mark Twain!” “He’s black?”), and drives on more confidently towards the end by giving Patrick Stewart a couple of good bits in his King Richard cameo. The cast is pretty game all the way: Cary Elwes, looking like the reincarnation of Errol Flynn himself, manages a few good smiles early on in a role tailored after his icon-making turn in Princess Bride; Richard “Where did my career go?” Lewis seems to be channeling the spirit of Gene Wilder at times in his performance as Prince John (especially when he raises his voice), but still acquits himself well; Roger Rees doing his Rickman takeoff stumbles and falls a lot early on, but pulls it together towards the end (the “Mervyn” bit is priceless); Amy Yasbeck as Marian is absolutely gorgeous and adept at light comedy as well, as she perhaps is better suited to the role than even Mastrantonio; Ullman as Latrine manages to be adorable even under layers of ugly makeup; Chappelle is well, Chappelle; and Mark Blankfield nearly steals the show as the blind servant Blinkin, even if many of his best bits may be offensive to blind people (“Oh good they’ve opened the salad bar”). I could have done without the bland “Men In Tights” musical number (though admittedly “Marian” is a beautiful song), and it’s rather annoying the way Brooks keeps making references to his earlier, better Blazing Saddles (even dragging out Robert Ridgeley to play the Hangman again). In the end, a fun little trifle that rewards the viewer who hangs in there until the end…
7/10