Movie Review: Robin Hood - Gloss - latest fashion, beauty tips, health advice, celebrity gossip and more...

GlossTV Product Panel

Popular of Late

Home

Entertainment

Film

Movie Review: Robin Hood

(2 votes)

The 1991 film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (starring Kevin Costner) did at least one thing right: it set the film during the exciting part of the Robin Hood story, where he takes from the rich and gives to the poor, infuriating the evil Sherriff of Nottingham along the way. The new Robin Hood film (starring Russell Crowe) decides to explore a rather dull and confusing backstory for "Robin Longstride", ending just as the fun should begin.
There are some reasonably epic battles to splash around in, and the costumes and sets are understated but well-suited. The cast are top notch A-listers, with Cate Blanchett as Lady Marion projecting capable regalness at every turn, Max von Sydow effortlessly handling the slightly senile father-figure of Walter Loxley, and Matthew Macfadyen doing his best to create interest in the little-seen Sherriff of Nottingham. Russell Crowe calls in his performance as Robin, who is a good-hearted leader of men, a type we've seen Russell portray several times before.

The movie begins with the death of King Richard the Lionheart, and Robin (accompanied by a few merry men) making his way back to England. Along the way he switches identities with Lord Robin of Loxley, a knight from Nottingham, and upon returning the knight's sword to his family is asked to play the part a little longer in aid of some political intrigue or something. It's at this point the plot becomes quite muddled, with an impending French invasion and courtly scheming all coming together to mean Bad Things For England. The script went through several writers, delays, and rewrites, and it shows. The tone is wildly uneven during this sticky middle section, but happily a big beach battle rescues the audience's interest in time for the conclusion of the tale.

If you enjoy period pieces, with all the attendant costumery and ornamented dialogue, you may get a kick out of this new perspective on the quintessential English legend. For action fans, there are exactly two arrows-through-the-throat (Robin's archery isn't celebrated quite so much in this tale), and legions of French and English soldiers downed in gloriously muddy battle. For those looking for a romance, look elsewhere: Russell does get his kit off at one point, but Lady Marion, like the rest of the movie, decides to save all the good fun for a sequel.