Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

After escaping his infidel captors with Indiana Jones-style panache, Robin of Locksley (Costner) returns from the Crusades with Moorish companion Azeem (Freeman), ready to avenge his father's murder. Azeem cracks jokes about the English weather while Robin gets to know Marian (Mastrantonio), but it isn't until they engage in open conflict with the Sheriff of Nottingham (a gloriously hammy Rickman) that the pace picks up and arrows start to fly. The mix of comedy, '90s sensibility, and swashbuckling action is more hit than miss, even if the overall effect is rather slapdash. Spirited, irreverent stuff, but not for those who like their myths kept sacred.