Kevin Reynolds

Douglas Milsome’s roving camera gives the action in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) a freedom its dialogue scenes lack. We felt our spirits rise when Reynolds got on with the adventure, then sink when the talk resumed. There is a decent film here, stretched past its comfortable length. It is also a useful introduction to his strengths and limitations: he handles the action more confidently than the competing tones.

The collaboration with Kevin Costner began with Reynolds’s directorial debut, Fandango (1985), and continued through Waterworld (1995). Historical adventure and literary adaptation became recurring choices, including The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) and Tristan & Isolde (2006). His later work took in the miniseries Hatfields & McCoys (2012) and Risen (2016), a biblical thriller he also wrote. Across those changes of format and subject, his interest in making period settings convincing offers a useful way into the work.

Reynolds cited Ridley Scott’s The Duellists as a model for his approach to The Count of Monte Cristo. That emphasis on realism helps explain a strength of Robin Hood: John Graysmark’s production design gives the adventure a credible setting. Michael Kamen’s rousing score helps us feel the excitement Costner’s Robin does not always communicate, and earns its enthusiasm without much assistance from him.

The difficulty is getting the actors to agree on what sort of film they are in. Costner’s solemnity and Alan Rickman’s mischief pull Robin Hood in different directions, while romance and a message about justice compete with the adventure. Reynolds gives each enough attention to interrupt the others, and the 143-minute running time makes that unevenness tiring. There is nothing wrong with treating the legend freely; the trouble comes when the comic and serious passages need the same characters to carry them. Try it for Rickman and the action, provided a leisurely pace is no obstacle.