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There have been many Robin Hood movies throughout the years and mostly depict Robin and his merry men as a bunch of jolly outlaws hiding in the forests around Nottingham stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Basically they are a bunch radical communists.
Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood takes on the Batman Begins approach of the story, going back to the beginning of the story in a gritty and realistic movie. If there is anything completely not clear in this movie it is why the merry men are called merry men, as their actions and overall persona are all but merry.
The movie has a wide variety of people involved and goes to great lengths to create a wide scope in the story. There are politics, battles, betrayals, a love story. It reminded me a bit of Star Wars actually, only without space ships and Wookies.
Though a lot of effort has been put into the movie, and a cast of seasoned actors do their best, there seems to be lacking something. The material has been approached so serious that there’s practically no room left for some light hearted moments. They only appear when dealing with the no-so-romantic relationship between Robin and Marian. Oh and Friar Tuck with his bees gave me a small grin on my face.
This movie puts the idea of Robin Hood we have aside and makes it a dark story where the attention lies too much on big scale wars and politics while one would expect a movie about a bunch of outlaws in the forest. Simply put the story of Robin Hood lends itself more for an Iron Man-like treatment rather than a Batman begins one. It is evident here as it is al so serious an never gets really engaging. Not even the bad guys take real delight in their roles and lay low when sceneries are there to be chewed. I liked Mark Strong more in Kick-Ass than in this. He seems to be the go to actor for villains these days and his Godfrey takes delight in being evil, but doesn’t show it enough.
A great cast and great director can’t make this movie a memorable one. A missed opportunity which I hope will be set straight with the next Robin Hood movie as I think it is a safe bet that this will not be the last one. If not with this team than certainly with another. I hope they make that a more merry movie than this one.
agon afterwards, but since they don’t exist there will be no animal shelters filled with abandoned dragons in a few months because in real life they didn’t turn out to make great pets. Anybody interested in a Dalmatian?
