Kevin Reynolds knows how to make a period adventure feel solid enough to matter. We are less convinced by his handling of tone: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves keeps interrupting its own pleasures.
Fi1m perspective
In Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), the camera keeps moving, and Kevin Reynolds seems happiest when the action gives it somewhere to go. There is an inviting bustle to the swashbuckling, even when the scenes grow untidy. We find him a fitfully enjoyable adventure director here, capable of making the physical business convincing without giving the whole film a steady pace. At 143 minutes, this particular outing needs rather more discipline.
His debut, Fandango (1985), began his collaboration with Kevin Costner. His recurring collaborators include Costner and editor Peter Boyle, though the most useful guide to his work is his persistent interest in period action and adventure. From Waterworld (1995), he went on to the period adaptations The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) and Tristan & Isolde (2006). The later move into television brought the miniseries Hatfields & McCoys (2012), followed by the biblical thriller Risen (2016), which he also wrote.
The appeal of that approach is clear in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, where cinematographer Douglas Milsome's roving camera makes familiar action feel busy and inviting, although its movement sometimes compounds the untidiness. Production designer John Graysmark gives the adventure solid surroundings, helping the danger register even when the comedy threatens to distract from it. Michael Kamen's music pushes the heroism hard, lending routine passages a conviction the acting cannot always supply. Reynolds has the craft around him to make the adventure persuasive.
The difficulty is his determination to accommodate action, romance, social conscience and broad comedy, repeatedly interrupting one to make space for another. We laughed at Alan Rickman's Sheriff of Nottingham, whose comic extravagance supplies the liveliness Costner's dutiful Robin lacks. Yet Reynolds struggles to accommodate that performance, and the comedy can pull us away from danger just when the action needs our attention. Consider Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves for Rickman and the swordplay, provided there is patience on the sofa for a long and uneven evening.
Biography
Kevin Hal Reynolds (born 17 January 1952) is an American film director and screenwriter. He was born in San Antonio, Texas, and attended Baylor University before studying at the University of Southern California film school. His graduate thesis short film Proof formed the basis for his feature debut Fandango (1985), which was produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment.
Reynolds co-wrote the screenplay for Red Dawn (1984). He is known for his collaborations with Kevin Costner, directing him in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) and Waterworld (1995), and later directing the miniseries Hatfields & McCoys (2012), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Other directorial credits include The Beast (1988), Rapa Nui (1994), One Eight Seven (1997), The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), Tristan & Isolde (2006) and Risen (2016).
