A favorite story of mine from my childhood was Robin Hood. For anyone who does not know, Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsmen Robin Hood became an outlaw upon returning from King Richard the Lionheart’s crusade.
Recently, as I am sure you all know, Sir Ridley Scott decided to take another epic story and give it to us in the summer movie season. For this film, he chose his favorite heroic actor, none other than Russell Crowe to play Robin Hood.
This story is somewhat of a prequel to what we already know about Robin Hood. We take up the story with Robin Hood fighting in the crusades. Upon Richard the Lionheart’s death in battle, Robin and three of his closest companions decide to leave the army and make their way home. As the story progresses, Robin Longstride takes on the identity of Robin of Loxely and tries to unify the Northern Barons of England. This is initially motivated by the civil unrest caused by King John’s unfair taxes on the common folk of the country. The movie climaxes with an invasion of England’s south coast by the French. Robin leads them to victory but is then proclaimed an outlaw by a jealous King John.
I was really surprised at how much I liked this film. I knew that I would enjoy it. Russell Crowe killing people with a bow and arrow and bringing justice to the weak (like he did in The Gladiator), what could go wrong. But, I thought the story was very inspiring and the action was breathtaking. For the almost 2 and a half hours I felt as if I was in 12th century England.
I also really enjoy the supporting cast. Cate Blanchett was amazing as Lady Marion. Initially, I really did not buy that casting. But, she played the strong-willed, intelligent character to a tee. I also really enjoyed the humor that Mark Addy and Kevin Durand brought to the film as Friar Tuck and Little John respectively.
So far the summer movie season is still treating us very well. I enjoyed Robin Hood on many different levels. The battle sequences were not hard to follow, I hate that unsteady cam thing that they do. The movie was funny and the plot was interesting. For that, I would like to give Robin Hood a 10 on the It’s Geektime d10 of outlaws.
