Robin Hood

If you have seen Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut then you will undoubtedly enjoy Robin Hood. While it may not be as bloody as Kingdom of Heaven, the action still remains exciting and brutal. People who have not seen that film will be disappointed by the lack of action and scenes that are too long.

While I found the film to be exciting, I couldn't help but realise that this would have been great if it was a 15 (UK age certificate) rather than a 12a. The first action sequence is great as English soldiers attack a French castle but it felt restricted that you would never see any blood when someone is killed; a soldier is shot in the neck by an arrow but other than the arrow, they look completely fine. Early on a character dies but from the way it was edited, you would never have known. A film where the violence is as savage and as brutal as this, requires you to feel as if the characters are in great danger.

A lot has been said about Russell Crowe and his acting in the film but I found little to complain about. He suited his role well. The supporting cast including Mark Strong, Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow, William Hurt, Kevin Durand and Oscar Isaac are fantastic. They are all completely immersed into their roles. I never felt that someone else could have been casted instead.

The cinematography is also really good but if only it was not let down by the editing. As a sword or axe is flung towards an enemies head, it cuts straight after the impact, loosing a sense of realism. The hurts the film much later on in the final action sequence.

The film maintained my interest and the final action sequence was exciting. This is a film worth watching but if you are expecting the next Gladiator, I suggest waiting for the director's cut on DVD/ Blu-ray.

Many have complained that this version is like Gladiator Part 2. Could be, but maybe Robin Hood was more than just a flamboyant character first played by Errol Flynn. Whole armies fight, Robin leads the way and CGI takes over where the gaps appear. It works very well if you can get past the scale issue. There is nothing like an English long bow to even the score!

Robin Hood is a very professionally made film. Great actors, great production design, great images. It is nice to watch because you feel you are in the capable hands of Ridley Scott. But do not expect to be amazed by the story or the acting. Apart from dame Marion, the characters are two dimensional and predictable. The film pretends to be historically correct, but is of course a well dressed fantasy. There are a few battle scenes, filmed in the Gladiator way. They are exciting, but not very convincing. In fact, they are completely ridiculous when you think you are watching a historically correct film. The worst for me were the boats in the final battle, apparently trying to induce a D-Day feeling.

Overall, the story is off balance. Some scenes have a very slow pace, while other scenes, often key elements that explain how Robin Hood came into existence, are reduced to a few shots and proclamations. The end of the film tells it all: it reminds us that we were supposed to see the story of how the legend of Robin Hood started. The makers just forgot to tell it.

"To be hunted all the days of his life, until his corpse unburied, is carrion for foxes and crows."

A few tips for getting the most enjoyment possible out of Robin Hood:

1. Forget that it's an adaptation of Robin Hood, entirely. Just pretend like it's a middling medieval drama/adventure movie starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett (who's spectacularly underused), with some very vague connections to the Robin Hood legend. Everything is changed about, added too, and embellished beyond recognition. There's nothing wrong with trying to put a fresh spin on an old tale (if it works), but you'll be greatly disappointed if you expect any more than loose connections to the well-known versions of the adventures of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. 

2. Don't expect Gladiator in England. Robin Hood desperately tries to be epic, sweeping, grandiose, and politically involving, but it doesn't come near the heights of the mega-popular, critically beloved Gladiator. It's not a bad movie, and you could enjoy it (if you keep your expectations at a reasonable level), but it's okay at best and deeply flawed at worst. Crowe doesn't put half the heart, passion, or effort into Robin Longstride that he did into Maximus. The characters are one-note and static, and the plot is overly-ambitious and needlessly complex. There is less than zero chemistry between Crowe and Blanchett. Robin's back-story was a contrived mess that added nothing to the movie except empty minutes to the running time. 

The main flaw with Robin Hood is that it's so preoccupied with being serious and deep, that it forgets to be fun. There's nothing wrong with trying to take a story like this in a more realistic direction, but there needs to be a rousing adventure at its heart. That's what's missing from this film. 

Robin Hood is a shadow of Gladiator. It's a shadow of Kingdom of Heaven, to be honest. But there are moments when the battles are raging and you forget that this is supposed to be Robin Hood, when it's an okay movie. My review seems horribly negative and that's not my intention - my expectations for this were just really high. It felt like Ridley Scott really didn't try all that hard, and the cast and crew followed his example.

Technically and aesthetically accomplished, but empty of substance, and full of pretentiousness, this "Robin Hood" is, in my opinion, one absolutely unnecessary revision of the mythical English archer's story.

As it has repeatedly been pointed out, you should not go into this expecting to find one more version of the "prince of thieves" theme. This is rather the (embellished) narration of how Robin Longstride came to be Robin Hood. It presents all the known characters, though many of them are vastly underused, and it describes how they came to know each other and become involved in each other's lives. It is by all practical means a "prequel" to the classic legend of Robin Hood.

So Ridley Scott tried to take a new approach on a well-known story, but the results are not impressive. I was surprised at how boring this movie turned out to be. It is a failed epic, devoid of passion, adventure, or feeling. It is almost inevitable to compare this to "Gladiator", because the latter excels at all the points that "Robin Hood" fails at. Even the battle scenes feel boring, predictable, and not spectacular at all. The heart of the director and of the main actor are just not there, and it shows.

What I liked most about the movie was the revision of Lady Marian's character, well portrayed by Cate Blanchett, but that's about that. I would rather have watched "The adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) or "Robin Hood, prince of thieves" (1991) than waste two and a half hours on this disappointment.

My rating is 3/10.