Robin Hood
Starring: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow, William Hurt, Danny Huston, Oscar Isaac, Mark Addy, Matthew Macfadyen, Kevin Durand, Scott Grimes, Douglas Hodge, Eileen Atkins, Alan Doyle
Directed by Ridley Scott
Rated: PG-13
Run Time: 140 mins
Genre: Action/War/ Adventure/ Drama/ Romance
3 frames out of 5
So how does one become Robin of the Hood?
It’s 12th Century France. King Richard the Lionheart (Danny Huston) has been away on the crusades for the past 10 years and is ready to come home to England. His men are tired, his kingdom wants him and their men home. In one final battle before returning home, King Richard is killed. Several of his knights rode ahead and we high jacked by French renegade soldiers and one English traitor, Godfrey (Mark Strong). Some of the English soldiers that broke away from King Richard to return home caught the tail end of the hijackings and were trying to save on of the knights, Sir Richard Loxley (Douglas Hodge). Robin Longstride (Russel Crowe) is asked by Loxley to deliver his sword to his father in Nottingham to make amends for a falling out they had prior to the crusades. Robin agrees and sees an opportunity to return home in a better status. He convinces his men Little John (Kevin Durand), Will Scarlett (Scott Grimes) and Allan A’Dayle (Alan Doyle) that if they impersonate the knights, return home to deliver the news about the king’s death and drop off the sword to the dead knight’s dad in Nottingham, they can live the good life after that. Sounds like a good enough plan, right?
So it seems…. But not really. When they return home, one of the English traitors recognizes Robin & his men and tries to tail them to eliminate any evidence of their treason. Once Queen Eleanor (Eileen Atkins) learns of King Richard’s death, Prince John (Oscar Isaac) is crowned as the new king. Then all hell breaks loose for England for having an idiot for a king. One of his first duties as king is he fires long time trusted advisor William Marshal (William Hurt) and appoints Godfrey as his right hand man. Godfrey has bigger plans like helping France invade England to divide & conquer.
Meanwhile, back in Nottingham, Robin delivers the news of Sir Robert’s death to his wife Marion Loxley (Cate Blanchett) and his father Sir Walter Loxley (Max von Sydow). Sir Walter, although sad about his son, thinks about Marion’s welfare in the event of his death, as he’s pretty old. He asks Robin to impersonate Sir Robert and act as Marion’s husband permanently, which he agrees and pisses off Marion. Need less to say the chemistry is strong and you guessed it, they eventually fall for each other.
Life is grand in Nottingham until Godfrey and his French goons impersonating the English show to up collect taxes, kill and pillage the villages, which outrage the Northern clans. The people of England are turning against the crown and Godfrey is exuberant with evil glee. Once William Marshall figures out what’s really going on, can he and Robin help King John figure out the mess he’s in before France takes over?
In this version of Robin Hood, it’s a good rendition and should have been called Robin Hood: Origins. The first hour & forty-five minutes were great but, it then started to come undone towards the end. As a viewer it was like, which movie am I actually watching? Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator or Braveheart? Robin Hood became this strange fusion of the 3 aforementioned films. Prior to that, it was a great movie which kept true to a film that has more historical value to it. Ridley Scott did a fantastic job capturing the look, feel & essence of 12th Century France & England until the end.
Things to watch for: Great action scenes, some funny lines & beautiful scenery.
Who should see this movie: Fans of Ridley Scott, Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow, William Hurt, Danny Huston, Oscar Isaac, Mark Addy, Matthew Macfadyen, Kevin Durand, Scott Grimes, Douglas Hodge; Fans of the story of Robin Hood
See it in the Theater or Rent it on DVD: For action scenes like this, it’s better to see on the silver screen.
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