Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe became a franchise name with The Gladiator and now they team up once again for the legendary Robin Hood. The expectations were high after their Oscar winning film, but many people were disappointed with this version of Robin Hood which was written by Brian Helgeland (The Green Zone, Mystic River, and Man on Fire). This movie is by no means close to being Gladiator, but it is a good movie nonetheless. The chemistry between Robin and Marion is not very strong, and the action scenes are not as good as The Gladiator, but the movie is still entertaining and has a decent plot. Robin Hood is such a rich character and I thought this movie does a good job at introducing that character and kind of setting up everything we know about him. The movie serves as sort of a prequel because we are introduced to a Robin Hood who is serving the King at war and later we discover how he ends up living in Nottingham. This is Robin before becoming Robin Hood and that is perhaps why so many people were disappointed because they wanted to see the actual Robin Hood living in the woods and stealing from the rich. I was prepared for the movie and already heard it was a prequel so I actually went with lower expectations, but ended up enjoying this epic movie and thought that it was written nicely and had some good performances as well.
It is the beginning of the XII century and Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe) is fighting alongside the English in a Crusade held by King Richard The Lionheart (Danny Huston). In one of their battles King Richard is killed and Robin decides it is time to escape and return home along with a few of his partners: Little John (Kevin Durand), Will (Scott Grimes), and Allan A Dayle (Alan Doyle). They encounter some luck on their way home when a few of the knights that have been assigned to return the King´s crown to England have been ambushed by a man named Godfrey (Mark Strong) working secretly alongside the French who want to invade England. Robin and his men kill the French and Godfrey escapes along with a few others, but they are able to save the crown and gather all the belongings left behind by the dead knights. One of the dying knights is Sir Robert Loxley (Douglas Hodge) who begs Robin to return his sword to his father in Nottingham. Robin promises to do so and along with his men they take the place of the knights and decide to return home in the boat that was waiting for them. Once in London Robin takes Robert`s place and returns the crown to the King´s brother, Prince John who is now proclaimed King of England. Robin returns the sword to Nottingham where he meets Marion (Kate Blanchett), Robert´s widow, and returns the sword to his father Walter Loxley (Max von Sydow). Walter asks Robin to stay with him and take Robert´s place for some time and Robin agrees. During this time King John decides to raise taxes and doesn´t know that his newly assigned counselor, Godfrey is actually planning to begin a Civil War so the French can invade.
Before going to see this epic film remember that this is how the legend of the Robin Hood we all have heard about begins. This is not a film about him in the wilderness stealing from the rich; it is sort of a prequel to let us know how he became an enemy of the King. Gladiator was a great epic film, but we cannot go into this movie expecting it to be just as good. Just because Robin Hood is no Gladiator doesn`t mean that the movie is bad, and I think that it is much better than most movies we´ve seen this year. I thought the performance from the cast was good and the plot was also interesting. Many people may find this movie kind of slow, but I actually was interested in seeing how all these different characters we have all heard about meet each other. I really wish William Hurt had more screen time as I enjoyed his performance as William Marshal. In this film we are also introduced to Friar Tuck, who is perhaps one of the funniest characters, and the Sheriff of Nottingham. I really enjoyed this epic movie and was entertained throughout the two hours. It was an original take of the Robin Hood legend and different from the other Robin Hood movies. Not a great film, but good nonetheless. The problem is that we have come to expect great things from Ridley Scott.
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