You can't exactly call this a bad movie, as it explores a portion of British history and a twist on the mythology not yet described in epic proportions on the big screen. It's just a slow paced build to what ends in a final battle that does come close to living up to what you might expect. The slow pace and lack of gigantic battles is what will leave you disappointed if that's what you're expecting. This is a more historical and cerebral take on the myth, and a more cerebral offering in general from Ridley Scott.
I must confess I don't know a whole lot about this period of history, so I can't very well attest to the historical accuracy of the picture. Considering it revolves around a myth, a large portion of it's got to be based on assumption - but it appears Scott's done a pretty decent job of tying up loose ends and blending fact with fiction. It jumps around a whole lot too, so it can be a bit of a challenge to absorb exactly what's going on if you're not paying %110 attention.
I would classify this film under historical fiction/biopic; drama; action; adventure; and there are elements of romance (it is one of the classic fictional romances) - though not taken to the level I would have liked to see. Crowe and Blanchett have pretty good chemistry, and I'd have enjoyed seeing things get a little steamier between them. But alas, we'll have to save that take on Robin Hood for Vivid video's new line. One thing I very much enjoy about these historical dramas is their gritty dirty realism, and Scott is a master of that. He does succeed in that area to a pretty high degree.
There are interspersed moments of comedy and levity, but that has never been Scott's strong point. For as serious a tone as the movie takes, often they seem out of place.
Story:
The film begins by explaining, via calligraphic scrolls, the period and the state which England's in - which is not a good one. It is the twelthe century, and King Richard The Lionheart's wreaked havoc on the citizens and peasants of the outlying regions. Richard's forces are at battle within England itself when you meet Robin Longstride - A seemingly ordinary footsoldier in the Lionhearted's forces. King Richard goes through the camp looking for an "honest man", stumbles upon Robin, asks Robin what he thinks and Robin basically replies "you suck". Little John also enters the fold in this scene and ends up a highlight in the movie. Needless to say King Richard doesn't very much like Robin's opinion and has him and his supporters put in the stocks, with orders to kill them. England is weak, disoriented, ununified, and rife for being overrun by any and all of the rest of Europe. France has their finger in the pie, and ends up invading the camp and unknowingly killing King Richard, or it was one of the "peasants" they were fighting - a lot going on in this introduction. Robin and what will eventually become his band of thieves realize the king is dead before anyone else in the camp does, and knowing this creates an even more precarious situation out of one that was already highly volatile, they formulate a plan for escape and survival. They attempt to flee to the sea and on their way they encounter Godfrey, get into a fight with him. He nearly kills them, they nearly kill him, and luckily get a hold of the actual physical crown, which they figure will either get them killed as traitors or they can take to the queen and use for proof of their good deeds and leverage in their survival. In this battle they also stumble into a soldier who gives them his sword and asks him to return it to his father in the village of Nottingham - Robin agrees to do so. Godfrey escapes, and you discover he's a French spy. They decide to gamble and take the crown to London. So the band of thieves make their way to the Thames and into London; greet the queen and hand over the crown, and you meet Prince John, who was earlier introduced, as a pretty nasty "little runt" literally in bed with France. Also William Marshal is introduced - William Hurt in usual grand form. Anyway, King John nearly ends up killing Robin right then and there, and you're introduced even more to just what a bastardly little coward he is - he gets his guards to "keep an eye on Robin", suspecting he might be an impostor. Robin and his band of thieves get out of London and venture to Nottingham where he delivers the sword to Sir Walter Loxley. Marion is of course the wife of the dead soldier, and her father is a highly benevolent man who convinces Marion to go along with the rouse. You're also further introduced to a cliche chubby and likable Friar Tuck during this part, tending his bees, and selling mead to the merry men. Robin eventually endears himself to the people of Nottingham, saves their crops, and keeps them from starving. And he and Marion fall deeper and deeper in love. As the people start to up rise against King John, Robin convinces them in a charismatic speech to unify, and John goes along with it - you find out in the end to it was just a giant scheme to gain control over the citizens. Godfrey ends up having penetrated so deep into England that he springs a surprise invasion, but the surprise is on him. When Robin, King John and a unified Britain launch a preemptive attack, take the high ground, and win the battle. THE END; Almost. John turns on everyone, burning the charter the people had earlier drafted and signed, craving absolute power, and vowing to kill anyone who gets in his way. First on his list: you guessed it... And a sequel is set up.
OK with that out of the way, let's get onto the characters.
It should be noted that a good portion of the lead and supporting actors have appeared in, even recent, cbms; a lot of familiar faces here.
Russell Crowe (Robin Longstride/Robinhood): This is Russell Crowe, being Russell Crowe being RobinHood, being Russell Crowe being Russell Crowe as Robinhood directed by Ridley Scott lol. It is the exact same thing that it always is, but he's consistent and he's definitely Russell Crowe - great presence as usual. Not quite as strong as Gladiator, and you can tell he's getting older. But again he's plenty watchable. 4/5
Kevin Durand (Little John): Always brings a menacing humor - he has essentially the same chemistry he and Russel Crowe had in 3:10. They make for good fighting buddies. In the beginning they start off as enemies and then he becomes one of Robin Hood's trusty merrymen. Carries a gigantic headsplitting maul around,
that you don't get to see him do any head splitting with. He's a funny guy, and built like the goddamn Jolly Green Giant. This guy is already a great actor, and probably will go on to do some amazing things. 4/5
Cate Blanchett (Marion Loxley): I know Cate Blanchett's not exactly a cbm favorite, but in this movie I found her incredibly attractive. Especially in this role she has a deep strength and sophistication in her, and the interaction between her and Crowe brings the majority of the humorous moments. It's not your cliche Marion. She goes from a highly oppressed aristocrat to warrior goddess, and ends up fighting in the final battle - targeting Godfrey, which brings the battle to a dramatic climax. 4/5
Mark Strong (Godfrey): Hey, I didn't know Lord Blackwood was in Robin Hood? (the picture's a joke). as good as he is at what he does, I think it's going to get real old real fast. His career thus far consists of just Mark Strong character acting the villain. Imo he should try and throw a little method into it once in a while, because his formula's getting stale very fast. In this, he is the British Traitor to the French. I didn't catch whether or not he was actually a French double agent, or what his exact motive was aside from helping the French try and invade England. 3/5
William Hurt (William Marshal): One of the best actors on the planet. I have never seen him do anything I didn't like. And when he entered into the picture, I found myself quite happy and relieved. I Thought to myself "now this is going to be good". He's not in it much, but he steals every scene he's in. I feel his presence has the effect of lifting any project he's involved in. As Marshal, he is of course under the king's rule, and has to go along with him, but definitely is a voice of reason, and ends up on Robin Hood's side. 4.5/5
Scott Grimes (Will Scarlet) Also one of the Merrymen - he is a bit of a smart ass, and goofball, along with Marion and Friar Tuck, bringing the majority of the laughs. One of Robin Hood's trusty merrymen. 3.5/5
Oscar Isaac (Prince/King John): Ok, this is a lead role and the main villain along with Godfrey. Really he's in between for most of the movie. You know there's something very evil about him, but you're not sure which side he's going to end up on. As I stated in the story segment, he goes along with Robin Hood to fend off the French, "unify" the citizens, and keep control of the crown. But it ends up in the end his only motive is to gain ultimate power over the people. He becomes evil incarnate at this point. But you know, this is not a Joaquin Phoenix caliber of evil, like you'd expect if this was to be "Gladiator with bows and arrows" - even Strong's character doesn't reach near those heights, but I suppose Phoenix is/was more of a method actor. Anyway, if this guy is to be the main villain in the potential sequel, he's going to have to raise the bar on his performance. There's a funny scene in the main battle near the end where he gets confused, and is made out to be a complete idiot - which I guess goes along with the ideology that most rulers who dictate through tierany over their subjects, don't seem to understand that if you're good to others you'll reap far greater rewards. There's a bit of a message about that, and as I understand it, that's sort what the myth of Robin Hood's always been about anyway 3.5/5
Mark Addy (Friar Tuck): I've seen him in some movies, but can't quite place him. He's the only one of the main actors who's not a well known. But once you see him, you know EXACTLY who he's supposed to "bee". =P sort of the cliche fat jovial comedic Friar Tuck. Stating something to the effect of "I'm a practical religious man", while tending his bees and selling his mead. He's at first going along with the Kings' heavy taxation and figurative raping of the citizens livelihoods. Robin Hood threatens to tell the king of his secret stash of mead, and enlists his help in holding on to Nottingham's grain. In order to plant their fields, and not allow the citizens to starve after "7 lean years". Adds a lighthearted and benevolent dimension as has every version of this character ever. You can't help but to like him. 4/5
Max Von Sydow (Sir Walter Loxley): Marion's father; blind and benevolent ruler of Nottingham. He takes Robin Hood under his wing, convinces Marion of his worth, and ends up an innocent victim to the king, and Godfrey - putting up a good fight and inflicting a nasty wound on him for a blind old man wielding a two handed broad sword. He is much like Richard Harris's character in Gladiator. 4.5/5
Danny Huston (King Richard: The Lion heart) Barely recognizable with long hair and a full beard, but this is Colonel William Stryker from Wolverine: Origins. To me, he's very good in this smaller role. Only seen for a small portion of the first act, it's made out pretty clearly that this is not such an altruistic ruler - and I do know that Richard The Lionheart is historically known to have had a very checkered reign of tyranny. In the movie, he basically catalyzes the events that lead to the rise of Robin Hood. 4/5
Cinematography/set design:
Again, it's what you expect from Ridley Scott, and the medieval period. It's high realism, and seems purposefully to be held back and minimized. There are the jaw dropping vistas you expect from Scott's "epic" style, but they're few and far between. It's very earthy. Mostly houses and castles with huge and sometimes ornate stone masonry, and lush greenery growing everywhere. They are of course running through Sherwood forest for the better part of the movie. The costuming and armor is a highlight as it usually is in Scott movies. Entire droves of soldiers clad in full chain mail, with the royalty and aristocrats having very ornate designs. It's sort of Scott's Tristan and Isolde meets Gladiator. He's using his signature shutter speeds, focal lengths, and undoubtedly anamorphic lenses - a lot of natural organic lens flares, which I very much enjoy. A lot of the shots have some very flashy tracking as you've come to expect from the man. I'm sure the cg is all over the place, but of course there aren't any giant transforming robots or laser beams so you really can't see it. =P All in all it's blended pretty seamlessly. 3.5/5
All in all, it's a decent picture, but could have been more. I mean we're all expecting Gladiator, Braveheart, or even Troy, and it doesn't really live up to any of them. There is only 1 major bow battle, a couple of minor ones, and a single solitary knock your socks off bow trick. There was an exorbitant amount of untapped potential here - coming from the Scott/Crowe duo. Really the best thing about the picture is that it blatantly sets up a sequel, and the sequel will have more room for what we're all expecting: a fast paced chase movie consisting of Robin Hood and his band of thieves "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor" - in the inimitable style of Gladiator. I honestly can't think of much more to say than this.
I have a passion for medieval period pieces, so that's the thing that makes it very watchable for me. If you don't have that passion, you're probably not going to enjoy it as much. Be warned, I could've easily waited 'till it came out on video. It definitely doesn't quite live up to the hype. The one thing Ridley Scott does deserve credit for here is that he didn't stick to the formula we all expected. He is a brilliant talent so I'm sure he'd have had no problem pulling it off. If it's of any consolation, at least he didn't pull a Michael Bay and do the exact same thing over and over and over.
Not a must see, but highly watchable if you really like this style of movie. 3.5/5