Viewed in
2010
Premise
Russell Crowe stars as the title character, in an origin story of how Robin Longstride became the famous Robin Hood.
Liked
The intentional avoidance of swash-buckling, the subplots and acting.
Disliked
The slow and confusing first act.
Thoughts
File this under "underrated films of 2010" category.
I liked the realistic portrayal of that character and his world. No one will ever touch the original, so no sense trying to out-swash-buckle it. The most interesting section was the middle, with the fake identity theme. Additionally, there were interesting subplots of that put the minor characters into their place in the legend. The seriousness and action was balanced out by quite a few unexpectedly funny moments.
Director Ridley Scott is known for his action direction, and here was another solid effort. By using minimal computer graphics and the tons of live stunts, it enhanced the realistic tone of the film. Also, there seemed to be less hand-held dizziness, either I have gotten used to it.
As for the acting, the actors brought gravitas and quality performances to the film. Crowe was solid as usual with a pinch of charm. The film was buoyed by some wonderful actors, such as Cate Blanchett and the legendary Max von Sydow. Fans of The Full Monty might remember the fat dude as Friar Tuck. As for Mark Strong, he is monopolizing the European bad guy role, even though I spent half the film confusing him for Stanley Tucci.
While the action was solid, it failed to wow me, which is kind of necessary these days for summer movies. But I think the bigger issue was the writing, despite the interesting story lines.
One unavoidable flaw was that it lacked suspense, since we know every character will survive. However, others were preventable. Just like most cloak-and-dagger movies, I got lost in the complicated politics and who was on whose side. Most of this was in the beginning, which also lent to the slow start. The last thing that bugged me was the use of the Sheriff of Nottingham character. It felt like he was inserted in the last minute just so people know there will be a Sheriff, but his character did nothing, and kind of confused the resolution.
The Errol Flynn classic will always be the best Robin Hood film of all time. But I think this was the second best, thanks to the realistic style, interesting middle section and strong acting.
What I would change
Cut out one or two scenes at the beginning. Just not sure which ones.
