ROBIN HOOD

Anyone coming to this expecting the usual merry japes will be very disappointed. This is a sort of origin story for Robin Hood (played by Russell Crowe), and a rather dour one at that, which starts with him as an archer in King Richard’s army, and it is only at the very end of the film that he has become an outlaw.

I don’t think Sherwood Forest is ever mentioned, and the climax of the film is a battle between English and French soldiers on the south coast.

During the film Robin gets to pretend to be Robert of Loxley, the husband of Lady Marion (Cate Blanchett, great as always), and as such he plays a key role in helping King John defeat a French invasion. 

Robin in this version of the legend is even more of a proto-socialist than usual.  He fails in his attempt to get King John to sign a forerunner of the Magna Carta, but by way of compensation the film ends with Robin and Marion setting up some sort of commune in the forest.

So a lot of liberties are taken with both the legend and with historical fact.

This didn’t bother me.  Nor was I troubled by Crowe’s accent, which attracted much adverse publicity at the time.  In this version of the story it’s unclear where Robin grew up so how can we know what accent he should have?

What did bother me was that I couldn’t get that interested in the court intrigue, and that I didn't find the action sequences exciting.  I found the animated sequence at the start of the closing credits more thrilling than anything that had come before.

This got me wondering whether Ridley Scott is very good at directing action, ‘Black Hawk Down’ and ‘Gladiator’ notwithstanding.

My favourite parts of the film were the Nottingham scenes, especially those involving Robin and Marion, which provide some lightness and humour. I would have happily watched more scenes of him settling into the role of her husband.  

But otherwise there is a lack of memorable characters, especially when it comes to villains.  The best of a bad bunch is Mark Strong as the treacherous and dastardly Godfrey, but remarkably there is no scene where he and Robin confront each other, until a final perfunctory sword fight.

The grim mood of the film is accentuated by the relentless colour scheme of browns and greys, with precious little greenery on view.

Nevertheless Ridley Scott can be relied upon for a visually impressive spectacle, and I’m always happy to spend time with Crowe and Blanchett (as well as William Hurt in a supporting role) so I enjoyed the film despite its failings, but in all conscience I can’t argue with the 43% rating it gets on Rotten Tomatoes.

RATING: x Find Something Better To Do