I thought it was just because I'm not a Mel Brooks fan -- until I remembered he is the same man who created the brilliant Young Frankenstein.
Therefore, it's not just me -- Robin Hood: Men in Tights is pretty weak.
Although the legend of the 12th century swashbuckling vigilante probably has endless potential for mockery, Brooks aimed instead for jokes that will duck right under your capacity for lowbrow humor.
Granted, part of Brooks' appeal is that his jokes are so stupid you have to laugh at them. And many of the gags in Robin Hood work only because he has the audacity to try them. But the rest of them . . . forget it.
For example, he actually did the ancient "walk this way" joke in which the group struts off in the funky fashion of their guide. How old is that? And I won't even mention what the Sherwood Forest peasants do when Robin tries to get their attention by calling,"Lend me your ear." Just guess. It also features some really dopey blind-guy gags at the expense of Robin's faithful servant Blinkin.
Men in Tights heavily spoofs Kevin Costner's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and you will be at a serious disadvantage as an audience member if you didn't see it. As a matter of fact, Brooks borrows so heavily from his own material, it's necessary to be pretty up on his movies to understand these jokes.
For example, there is a traveling mole joke that's directly lifted from Igor's moving hump in Young Frankenstein.
But that's not to say Brooks doesn't sometimes show the stuff that made him famous. His best jokes, though few and far between, are the kind that would make you pause the VCR until you finished laughing. Some of the best are the ones that mock movie making itself.
"Prepare for the fight scene," Robin says dashingly to the Sheriff of Rottingham. During their swordplay, they bump into a set guy eating a donut behind the scenes.
Slightly balancing the hit-you-over-the-head humor, Robin Hood features some of those funny, almost subliminal details that the audience must stay alert for. For example, it's easy to miss that the Friar Tuck character is renamed Rabbi Tuckman, or that the assassin shoots an arrow at Robin from the Royal Folio Depository.
One of Brooks' weaknesses is that he thinks any reference to a current issue or fad (i.e. Malcolm X, Rodney King, The Arsenio Hall Show, The Tomahawk Chop, etc.) constitutes a gag. It isn't enough to base comedy solely on the recognition factor.
The cameos range from brilliant to disappointing. Dom Deluise did a wonderful Godfather impression. Richard Lewis as the usurping King John doesn't much stray from the neurotic Jewish character that he started his career with. Even Tracey Ullman, the Queen of Role-playing, couldn't make her hideous witch/cook character Latrine funny, indicating that Brooks may definitely be past his prime.
It's worth waiting to rent the video for moderate fans with low attention spans. But people with a fear of blatantly stupid humor should just say nay.
