Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Robin Hood: Men in Tights – Returning to England from the Crusades, Robin of Loxley finds his family’s land taken by the evil King John and his lackey, The Sheriff of Rottingham. Finding some unlikely friends and gathering together a band of men to stop the King and Sheriff from taking everything from the poor, Robin also catches the eye of the beautiful Maid Marian. With a price on his head, can Robin use his cunning and fighting skills to evade capture, and woo Marian?

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) – Director: Mel Brooks

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2052335

Rating: PG

Running Length: 104 mins

Starring: Cary Elwes, Amy Yasbeck, Roger Rees

Genre: Comedy

REVIEW: ‘ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS’

Well known for his comedy spoofs, Mel Brooks turned his hand to famous British legend, Robin Hood. With so many adaptations of the well-known figure, it is hard to stand out from the crowd. However, Brooks’ signature comedy makes this an easy task and the cast pull off the daft script and silly situations with aplomb. Mostly roasting Kevin Costner’s ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ (but also parodying plenty of others), there is barely a moment that doesn’t contain something familiar.

Cary Elwes, with his dashing good looks and perfect comic timing, was born to play Robin and the supporting cast of his merry men, made up of a proper bunch of misfits, keep everything moving along perfectly. The Sheriff of Rottingham (Robert Rees) is excellent as an Alan Rickman parody but also gives a solid performance as a character in his own right. It’s a shame that Matthew Porretta’s Will Scarlet O’Hara (he’s from Georgia) doesn’t have more to do as one of the core cast but the prominence of Eric Allen Kramer’s simple and sweet Little John more than makes up for that.

With a few risqué jokes, this isn’t exactly a kids movie but so much silliness will have everyone laughing from start to finish and quoting the lines for years to come (…if we don’t get no tolls….).

CONTENT: IS ‘ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

In the opening scene, Robin is taken around a prison by some guards. They come across a grate in the floor with hands reaching for help or mercy. When the lead guard whips at the hands they are pulled back beneath the grate. Once they guards have left the area the hands return but all have their middle fingers raised and jeering can be heard.

Robin is then taken to a room full of other prisoners who are shackled in order to be tortured. A sign at the back says ‘Eye Gougers’. However the guard chooses to use the ‘tongue loosener’ which is a pair of tongs that pull Robin’s tongue, stretching it out to a comical degree, when the guard lets go, Robin’s tongue slaps back into his mouth.

Blinkin is a blind member of Robin’s gang. When he is first introduced to the story, he is seen sitting on a latrine holding a magazine, similar to Playboy. While no explicit pictures are shown, the magazine folds out revealing the outline of a nude woman, Blinkin touches it and cups the figure’s breasts. He also mistakes a nude statue for Robin, feeling the statue’s breasts he says that Robin has grown some ‘nice boobs’.

Maid Marian wears a chastity belt throughout the movie and much of the rivalry between Robin and the Sheriff is about obtaining the key to unlock the belt. There is also much talk about Marian being a virgin and having to be married before anything physical can happen with a lover (this is mostly shown to be kissing but some older kids are likely to understand the wider context of this).

When creating a potion, the witch, Latrine, states ‘Testicles of a newt!’ as she throws them into the mix of other unpleasant ingredients. She then jokes ‘I guess he’s a transsexual now!’

Latrine also has the ‘hots’ for the Sheriff and won’t help King John unless he helps her win Rottingham’s heart. In order to get over her ugliness, King John suggests getting him drunk in order to trick him into sleeping with the crone.

When Robin and his merry men meet Rabbi Tuckman, he misunderstands them and asks if they are ‘Faygeles’ (homosexuals), to which Robin assures him ‘No, no, we’re straight’. The Rabbi also demonstrates a contraption that resembles a tiny guillotine which is used for circumcisions (the language in not explicit). When he says that you ‘nip the tip’, the men groan and wince at the thought.

When Robin is serenading Marion, his men can see their silhouettes behind a white sheet and watch as the climax of the song corresponds with Robin’s sword rising towards Marian. Believing it to be something much more crude, the men cheer and are disappointed when Robin removes the sheet to reveal that it wasn’t what they thought it was.

In order to stop Robin being executed, Marian reluctantly agrees to marry the Sheriff, he asks her to confirm that she’ll ‘give herself’ to him on request. Marian agrees but adds that “you’ll never have my heart, mind or soul’. Because he is only interested in sleeping with her, the Sheriff says he is happy with this. A character says ‘He’s gonna deflower her in the tower’.

The Sheriff throws Marian onto a bed and begins to rip off her clothes, when he comes across her chastity belt, he says ‘that’s going to chafe my willy!’

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS’ FOR KIDS?

‘Robin Hood: Men in Tights’ stands out as one of Mel Brooks’ best comedies and with so many gags it’s a movie that keeps the audience laughing out loud from start to finish. As so much of it is quotable and there are numerous risqué lines throughout, parents may be concerned about children repeating some of the ruder jokes that they hear. We feel that this movie is suitable for kids aged 7 and over but would recommend parental supervision to ensure the more sexual jokes, especially the (albeit mild) non-consensual sex jokes are acceptable for them to hear.

• Violence: 1/5 (some swashbuckling style action scenes, nothing too strong – no blood or gore. Some mild references to sexual violence)
• Emotional Distress: 1/5 (Robin is threatened to be executed by hanging and has a noose placed around his neck until Marian is forced to accept a marriage proposal)
• Fear Factor: 0/5
• Sexual Content: 2/5 (Maid Marian is seen having a bath, she then stands up and her long hair is strategically placed to cover her breasts)
• Bad Language: 2/5 (a character calls Robin a ‘fruit’ although no other dialogue suggests this to be a homophobic slur. Mostly mild but some moderate cursing)
• Dialogue: 2/5 (quite a few jokes of a sexual nature)
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of taking back what belongs to you, helping the needy, the importance that was put on virginity years ago, working as a team, fighting oppression even if they are stronger than you and having confidence in your talents.

Words by Laura Record

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