Robin Hood

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Written by: Brian Helgeland (story and screenplay)
                 Ethan Reiff (story)
                 Cyrus Voris (story)
Cast: Russell Crowe (Robin Longstride)
        Cate Blanchett (Marion Loxley)
        Max Von Sydow (Sir Walter Loxley)
        William Hurt (William Marshal)
        Mark Strong (Godfrey)


This movie had a couple things to live up to, a comedic rendition of Robin Hood (thanks Mel Brooks for Men in TIghts) and the 90s classic, Prince of Thieves.


I say that it had things to live up to also because of the all-star team fronting it (see above).


Again though, I will do my best to review this as a movie on its own and without comparison (if that's at all possible).


Long Live the King


[spoiler alert!]


In one of the films first sequences (interestingly done castle siege, at that) we see a French archer kill Richard the Lionheart. Historically speaking, I don't think this actually happened. In other treatments of Robin Hood, the king was always described to be "away at the crusades" or something similar. Very quickly I thought, "This kinda screws the Robin Hood universe. He was supposed to be the good king that everyone waited for!", now though, no matter what difficulty came to Nottingham, on some level, it would never end because the tyrannical king would never really be replaced! But that was just a quickly intrusive thought that affected the whole storyline and not the movie per se.


English to French


Mark Strong as Godfrey was excellent, as with Blackwood in Sherlock Holmes, this was a bad guy that I wanted to see hurt. He was probably one of the character I had a genuine sentiment towards. Though his scheme was simple, I really enjoyed watching him do it. Something about the way he acts makes the villain look more devious and hate-able.


Two for two as a bad guy, I wonder which bad guy he'll portray next...


Gritty, Edgy, and...FAIL


The setup for Robin Hood was quite good. The movie looked "hard", more graphic, rougher - similar (I am using this term LOOSELY) to the transition of Batman to Batman Begins. Ground work was laid out well, the tandem of Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe was set to work it's magic yet again.


Here's where things start to miss their marks.


The storyline was stretched too far. The England breaks into civil war, Robin discovers his bride-to-be, England unites against France, and the king goes back on his word. Now this could've easily been made into a movie, no doubt. Except that, the portrayal of the story and combination of the elements that told Robin's tale fell short of something that would keep an average moviegoer entertained. Some of the sequences felt "forced" and did nothing for the movie except add to the running time.


What's the first thing I think of when I think Robin Hood? Archer. Did this movie live up to that thought? No, not even close. Robin had maybe two well portrayed arrow shots in the whole movie but that was it. The archery tournament happens in the next story, but even then. You've got a guy who you know can shoot an arrow through an arrow, and what do you do? Almost nothing. The movie failed to make me feel like he was THE archer of his time. Hell, I think Legolas had far better firing shots than Robin Hood, especially after seeing this movie.


Tied in to my previous point was that there was no visual hook to this movie when in fact there were numerous chances to do so. "What was your favorite part of the movie?" - some might answer with the ending, still some will answer with something else; what that something else is, I have no clue. The trailer of Robin Hood had me going "ooooohhhhh", like I was looking at something that would be death-defyingly cool, the movie...left me feeling robbed (Not that I'm rich and he gave to the poor, but I felt like Robin Hood stole from me and gave it to the movie makers).


Lastly, I would've liked to have seen and felt the presence of the sheriff of Nottingham more. This movie is just a setup, thats true, but we all know the sheriff to be Robin's main enemy, I think they could have made the audience feel that more. He wouldn't have had to steal the limelight, it would've been okay for him to make me feel that he would make Robin of Loxley's life a nightmare, like we all expect him to. Loxley's chance to do the same for the sheriff could've been shown in the next movie (pray tell, should there be one).


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From the guys who gave us Gladiator, I expected more, a lot more. Robin Hood missed its target.

Overall: 5 out of 10
- Wait for the DVD to go on sale, then buy it. Watch something else at the local theater.
- The conversations you'll have about this are how most of you will prefer Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.