Thanks for checking out our Robin Hood review.
Genre: Action Drama
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Staring: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, William Hurt, Mark Strong, Mark Addy, Kevin Durand, Scott Grimes, Alan Doyle
Released: May 14, 2010
THE GENERAL IDEA
Robin Longstride, an Archer in King Richard the Lionheart’s Crusades, takes advantage of the confusion around Lionheart’s death to escape his duty with a band of loyal soldiers in hopes of returning to his homeland to live out a quiet existance. When he returns however, he swears to a fallen soldier (Robin of Loxley) to return his father’s sword in Nottingham.
THE GOOD
This toys with the historical records of who may or may not have been Robin Hood. But they are not attempting to be historically accurate. But unlike films like King Arthur, the “inconsistencies” that we have learned in various incarnations of the Robin Hood story, the changes make sense. And they work. I can’t get into detail without spoilers, so just trust me. When something you see in the trailer doesn’t make sense (his name is Longstride…not Loxley.. its ok) it does in the movie.
Blanchett is as appropriate as always. She plays the role great and does Marion justice without making her seem the helpless damsel in distress that Robin has to save.
I also like that Robin does become what we expect, just not how we expect it to happen. I was very pleased with how they develop the story so that this would stand out as a different telling of the Robin Hood story. And it works. The story is very good.
His band of “merry men” are his loyal men at arms, like brothers. But they have enough personality to be recognized for who they are, but still blend enough into the story that they don’t stand out.
THE BAD
The movie is too long, and developes very slowly. The trailer does a good job of keeping you in the dark about what is really going on. But they could have got to the meat of it better. It drags on in parts and doesn’t deserve its long run time.
I expected more out of Mark Strong as the manipulative Godfrey who is manipulating Prince John, and is helping the King of France to invade England. His character was appropriately evil but I just didnt find him menacing at all. He wasn’t a good villain, just a badguy.
There was a subplot introduced that many of the orphaned children have been hiding in the Greenwood of Nottingham (presumably Sherwood Forest) fleeing their own villages and mothers and stealing from people. Completely unneccessary and never used until the very end and they didn’t need to be there.
The big epic battle is anticlimatic, but at least it wasn’t a Hollywood stereotype. Still i would have liked to see more action, but its over very fast. If you see this, you will know why its over fast, but that could have been a line of dialogue instead of a whole battle scene.
OVERALL
This is very much an origin story of Robin Hood, and he doesn’t actually do much of the common Robin Hood “rob from the rich and give to the poor” stuff. This does leave off into sequel potential, and if they make another I would be interested to see how it goes. This wasn’t a terrible film, but it wasn’t great either. I am right on the fence with this one.
I give Robin Hood a 5 out of 10
