Robin Hood

[squire]

I just saw the Ridley Scott Robin Hood film last night and I loved it. A bit of a warning, though, it's not the Robin Hood we're used to. This movie is supposed to be a sort of prequel to the "Robin Hood and His Merrie Men" sort of flick; it tells of how he became the legendary outlaw we know (and strongly hints at a sequel).

Oh, and of course, it has nothing to do with Lawhead's magnificent rendering of the legend in the King Raven Trilogy.

Anyhoo, I really enjoyed the film and I wonder if anyone else has/plans to see it and what they think of it?

[Caledvwlch]

I thought it was brilliant. I've seen it twice now, and it actually grew on me the second time. It's got some warping of history, but then, that's just something Scott does with his historical films (Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, now Robin Hood). That said, it's probably a lot closer to truth than most Robin Hood films, and it's certainly much better done than any of the others.

Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett are my two favorite actors in the world, so I was thrilled to see them in something together. William Hurt and Matthew Macfadyen are brilliant as well, although I was sad that we didn't see a little more of the Sheriff. I thought the political tie-ins were well done, and even though it's not completely accurate, I liked the portrayal of the Great Charter of the Forest serving as some sort of foreshadow to the Magna Carta. And I must say, I've done quite a lot of research about the Richard, John, and their parents, and the way Scott displayed their relationships was certainly accurate.

Facts aside, I thought the film was beautiful. It wasn't as dark as Scott's other recent films. The emphasis on the people and the land was certainly very British and folkish. There was tragedy in the film, yes, but things never grew quite as desperate as in Gladiator, for example. Lovely character development as well, and it was overall a very noble film. And the cinematography was excellent, and the score.

So, yeah, I loved it. Not enough to stick it in my Top 10, but it definitely made it into the Top 40 or so.

[Caledvwlch]

Incidentally, my avatar is a quote from Gladiator...

[squire]

I mostly agree with you, Caledvwich. I don't know a whole lot about the period , but I though the story would have flowed much more smoothly without the pseudo-Magna Carta.

The cinemetography, acting, directing, and design was gorgeous and extremely well done, but the standard really fell with the writing. My brother does a lot of research on movies and such (he is planning to work in marketing for movies and video games) and noticed that Ridley Scott's last few films have all had awesome and outsanding attributes except in the writing. He just can't seem to find one that works well and fits with all the rest of his great team. Had the writing been better, (and the title more telling of the nature of the story) I believe that Robin Hood could have been a huge hit and maybe even won some awards.

Otherwise, I absolutely loved the film, even with the shortcomings, possibly because it is 1. Medieval, 2. Robin Hood, 3. (mostly) Realistically designed, and 4. Russel Crowe.