MOVIE REVIEW: Robin Hood (2010)

"Robin Hood" is one of my all-time favorite folktales; it's a guy's fairy tale, but without the magic. It's a story of good versus evil and a classic romance. It has an incredibly engaging cast of characters, and for a damsel-in-distress, Maid Marian is pretty atypical in regards to her resourcefulness, intelligence, and courage. Only Star Wars comes as close to "Robin Hood" in my heart as a "timeless tale". I've seen and read many versions, including Errol Flynn's brilliant Adventures of Robin Hood, Disney's goofy animated spin, Kevin Costner's campy Prince of Thieves, Mel Brooks' hilarious Men In Tights; and one day, I do need to get around to seeing Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn's legendary Robin and Marian, which portrays the characters' autumn years. So, how does this revisionment of Robin Hood turn out? Ehh...

Ridley Scott is a misunderstood director, he's made a lot of great movies that were regarded as failures when they came out, but gradually became cult favorites. Perhaps Alien, Gladiator, and Black Hawk Down were the only instant successes of his that I can currently name off the top of my head. I will admit though, he can often bite a little more than he can chew when it comes down to style over substance. While I won't go into a synopsis, since I'm sure many of you are familiar with the story; it would appear with Robin Hood that Scott is trying to incorporate some of England's background history into the tale itself. Such blending fantasy and history is evident in one subplot where Eleanor of Aquitaine, disgusted with her son, King John (Richard is killed early on in the movie!), appeals to higher power to somehow dethrone him, or in another where William the Marshall tries to convince King John to sign the Magna Carta. My knowledge of Robin Hood's "historical" background is nebulous at best, since it was always a folktale for me, so I found this very jarring. Acting-wise, Crowe does fine, even if he's playing Maximus with a Scots-Irish accent. Cate Blanchett is refreshingly taut as Maid Marian, and everyone else services their roles fine.

This was a well-put together production, overall. However, I really had a lot of trouble letting go of the traditionalist angle of the story in favor of this revision. It didn't help that I found the storytelling to be surprisingly dry in light of Ridley Scott's visual flair and panache for action scenes. The action itself is cool, but scenes were sadly too far in-between, and the final battle is very over-the-top in an unnecessarily "Lord of the Rings" melodramatic fashion. This was easily one of my least favorite interpretations of "Robin Hood", but hey, at least it had some style to go along with it.

6/10

Peace,
- Jon