‘It’s not already time for another Robin Hood remake, is it?’ I asked upon learning that the one starring Russell Crowe was in the works. ‘After all, it’s only been, what…20 years, really?’ Time flies when you’re having fun, and even when you’re not.
But this Robin Hood gives us a different perspective, a back story so-called, of how the man came to be the legend we’ve all heard of. Have you ever wondered about that?? Whether or not you have, this version is quite a worthy entertainment.
Russell Crowe plays Robin Longstride who has been off fighting in the Crusades under King Richard the Lion-Hearted of England. Having exhausted all of their means for this war, the returning troops are plundering their way across Europe. Robin has sacked one too many castles and has become disillusioned with his king’s less-than-honorable tactics. When Richard dies, Robin hardly mourns him. Along with some friends of the same ilk, he grabs the opportunity to strike out on his own, with a plan to return home to England and report to the new King John (Oscar Isaac) in a way that will preserve his honor.
He proceeds on to Nottingham to return a sword given him by a dying soldier to the man’s elderly father (Max Von Sydow). This is where he meets up with a widowed Maid Marion (Cate Blanchett), a beehive-obsessed Friar Tuck (Mark Addy), and the mean Sheriff of, well, you know where (Matthew Macfadyen). He didn’t intend to stay and get caught up in the local problems, but Marion’s presence sort of does a number on his self-centered way of thinking.
There are some subplots concerning Robin’s hazy childhood memories of his father, the young and inexperienced King John’s flagrant affair with a French princess, and the king’s mother who tries to keep the teetering monarchy together amidst an invasion by the French. One can tangibly feel the shaking foundations of a country under tyrannical and incompetent rule.
The climactic battle underneath the coastal cliffs with boatloads of French arriving across the Channel is grand in its scale, the sight of thousands of arrows raining down from the cliffs impressive.
The attention to detail is as minute as a work of art from an old master—from the cold, austere interiors of castles still relatively new to the heaviness of the chainmail, and to the verdant, rolling hills of the English countryside that give a suitable backdrop to the inner strength and pride of a poverty-stricken people. And there is plenty of director Ridley Scott’s signature shaky-camera, you-are-there action footage.
If this movie is missing anything, it’s quotable lines—those “Go ahead, make my day” moments that make a film memorable and give it a lasting place in the annals of legends. And the love story is less-than-powerful, but make no mistake. This is a war film, and its graphic violence should have classified it for an R rating instead of the PG-13 it carries.
But the subtle change of the character of Robin Hood from a self-serving loner to a committed team player and eventual leader of a coherent band is an interesting take on a well-known story.
