Robin Hood – Men In Tights is a Mel Brooks’ spoof on the famous English legend of a champion of the people who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. It’s not one of Mel Brooks’ best films, but it certainly made me laugh and there’s a lot to like about it.

Foremost among the things to like is the fact that Robin Hood is played by Cary Elwes. This and the daft nature of the movie give it a somewhat similar feel to The Princess Bride, though this isn’t as good and certainly doesn’t have the same charm. However there is a similar air of whimsical fantasy in Men In Tights. It is a very silly film, and a lot of its funnier bits come from moments of pure surrealism – at the intro and outro we have rap artists break dancing, and suddenly they change to medieval style music and ballet – then back again. Very strange, but also rather funny.

Starting off in prison in the Middle East and having found his entire family home repossessed (and taken away in a quite literal sense!), Robin has only his wits (of dubious value), blind servant Blinkin (who hadn’t realised the castle was gone), and newfound friend Ahchoo [son of Asneeze]
Mark Blankfield plays Blinkin and Ahchoo is played by Dave Chapelle). His main adversaries are of course Prince John (Richard Lewis, who is hilarious) and the Sheriff of Rottingham (groan), played by Roger Rees and also pretty funny. Maid Marion is his love interest of course and Amy Yasbeck is both beautiful enough and has a good enough sense of comic timing to play the role.

The story follows the well-known Robin Hood story relatively closely with the addition of a great deal of tomfoolery and a chastity belt. The chastity belt is important to the plot, for reasons that quickly become very obvious to anyone watching the film (unless perhaps they’re under ten years old). Speaking of which, this is rated PG (UK) / PG-13 (US) for “off-colour humour”. There’s a bit in the way of offensive content here, mainly in the form of a few mildish swear words and innuendo – you’d have to be easily offended to be particularly bothered by it. It’s more bad taste than anything – occasionally the scenes are funny, occasionally not. The bad language is crucial to one joke, not that it’s one of the better ones here.


There are also some other important characters including Little John (Eric Allan Kramer), Will Scarlet O’Hara (Matthew Porretta), Latrine (as you might guess, she is the character for whom a swear word is part of the jokes... you see, she actually changed her name too latrine...), played by Tracey Ullman; and Patrick Stewart comes in at the end as King John. Mel Brooks is well known for making an appearance in his films, and this is one of his more memorable roles – as a travelling Rabbi selling sacramental wine. It’s a silly scene, but played with such ludicrous enthusiasm that you just have to laugh.

The humour doesn’t always work in Men in Tights and it does sometimes get a bit too crude or stupid to be funny, but I think it’s fair to say that it hits a lot more frequently than it misses. The cast are on the whole good (I particularly enjoyed Richard Lewis’ and Matthew Porretta’s performances), and the dialogue sometimes rises above the general chaos to become extremely funny (and they even have a reference to Blazing Saddles, another Mel Brooks film – perhaps his best – with Ahchoo’s reply to the crowd’s astonished “A black sheriff?”). It spoofs Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves rather effectively and there are definite comedic references to Errol Flynn’s classic The Adventures of Robin Hood. Needless to say, Men In Tights is a lot funnier if you’ve seen those films, or are at least basically familiar with them.

Quotes

Robin Hood: Prepare for the fight scene!

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Prince John: And why should the people listen to you?
Robin Hood: Because, unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent.

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Robin Hood: Blinkin, listen to me. They've taken the castle!
Blinkin: I thought it felt a bit drafty. Cor, this never would have happened if your father was alive.
Robin Hood: He's dead?
Blinkin: Yes.
Robin Hood: And my mother?
Blinkin: She died of pneumonia while... oh, you were away...
Robin Hood: My brothers?
Blinkin: There were all killed by the plague.
Robin Hood: My dog, Pogo?
Blinkin: Run over by a carriage.
Robin Hood: My goldfish, Goldie?
Blinkin: Eaten by the cat.
Robin Hood: [on the verge of tears] My cat?
Blinkin: Choked on the goldfish.
[pause]
Blinkin: Oh, it's good to be home, ain't it, Master Robin?

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Prince John: Tell everyone that when the day is out we shall have a wedding. Or a hanging. Either way, we're gonna have a lot of fun, huh?

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Ahchoo: Let's get out of this ladies clothing and get into our tights!

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Ahchoo: Let's get out of this ladies clothing and get into our tights!

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Robin Hood: As my first order of business, I would like to appoint a new Sheriff... my friend Ahchoo.
Crowd: A black sheriff?
Blinkin: He's black?
Ahchoo: And why not? It worked in Blazing Saddles.

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Little John: Let's face it. You've gotta be a man to wear tights!

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(From the intro sequence which involves a village being pillaged)

Angry Villagers: LEAVE US ALONE, MEL BROOKS!


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Also by Mel Brooks: Spaceballs

See also: My Top Ten Spoof Movies




The song of the Merry Men:

We're men / We're men in tights / We roam around the forest looking for fights / We're men / We're men in tights / We rob from the rich and give to the poor / That's right! / We may look like sissies / But watch what you say / Or else we'll put out your lights / We're men / We're men in tights / Always on guard / Defending the people's rights / We're men / Manly men! / We're men in tights / Yes! / We roam around the forest looking for fights / We're men / We're men in tights / We rob from the rich and give to the poor / That's right! / We may look like pansies / But don't get us wrong / Or else we'll put out your lights / We're men / We're men in tights / *Tight tights* / Always on guard / Defending the people's rights / When you're in a fix / Just call for the men in tights / We're butch!



If you want to actually be Robin Hood, you might want to try one of these PC Games:

Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown
Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood

Recommended: Yes