Ridley Scott's Robin Hood

Hahaha! Some Ole Bullsh-t?! I knew it!

While I tend to try to judge movies I watch based on the movie I am given and not on the movie that I want to see, I think it's fair to say that when filmmakers try to make a movie called Robin Hood there are certain conventions that need to be followed. I'm all for variations on a theme, but certain aspects of the lore need to be adhered to. That said, this movie has almost nothing in common with the Robin Hood tale we are all familiar with.

Would I have liked this movie more if it wasn't cashing in on the Robin Hood title? Possibly, but the fact is that Ridley Scott and company attempted to give us a Robin Hood movie and failed completely. When I want a Robin Hood tale I don't want the "prequel" version that tells us why Robin is the way he is. I want Robin Hood and his merry men living in a forest, robbing the rich, giving to the poor, and Robin using a bow and arrow. I can deal with Robin Hood not being a fanciful tale, as I always dug Kevin Reynolds' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Sure, it's far more grim than any Robin Hood movie before it, but it still retains all of those elements we've come to love and expect.

Russel Crowe's Robin Hood is a drab character who never seems to have much motivation for anything he does. Also, he uses a sword more than a bow. Call it a fanboyish nitpick, but that's a big strike for me. Robin Hood needs to be shown as an unparalleled archer. That's kind of his schtick. Maid Marian is supposed to be a fair lady in waiting. I'm fine with toughening her up with small amounts of "girl power", but I certainly don't need or want a drab and wry Marian who is in mourning and then, without any prior explanation, running around in battle in full armor only to be slapped around rather quickly. The rest of the cast is equally mistreated, a shame too, considering the scope of this cast.

In the end, Robin Hood is just a dreary and dull movie with no charge or excitement. Honestly, it felt like the studio wanted to make Gladiator in the middle ages and decided to just slap the Robin Hood title on it, knowing that people may be more inclined to see a property they're familiar with. And as usual, Hollywood does it wrong, because the biggest mistake this movie makes is attempting to be part of the cinematic Robin Hood progeny.

I will say though, the end credits were pretty cool.

^ I was afraid it might be like that. Kinda felt it in the trailer. But Ridley Scott and Crowe, I couldn't understand why I was feeling like that, but this confirms my suspicion. It just seemed like another hackneyed job of covering, "historically," a character usually based in fiction. [See King Arthur...or, wait, don't.]

I'm afraid to see this just based on the fact it's Russell Crowe. I am not a fan of him. This is supposed to be a prequel. The man before the myth, right? My question then is this. Why Russell Crowe? Couldn't they had got someone younger to play the lead role? Just wondering.

ChrisToPhenom wrote:Hahaha! Some Ole Bullsh-t?! I knew it!

This is too funny.

jaydee74 wrote:I'm afraid to see this just based on the fact it's Russell Crowe. I am not a fan of him. This is supposed to be a prequel. The man before the myth, right? My question then is this. Why Russell Crowe? Couldn't they had got someone younger to play the lead role? Just wondering.

While I'm a huge fan of Russel Crowe, I too had that same question while I was watching it. In fact, the whole cast is fairly older which is weird considering the average lifespan back then was somewhere in the mid to late thirties. I guess the argument could be made that his character in the movie isn't that old, he just looks older because of the hard living conditions.

have no interest in seeing "gladiator 2"

supervenom wrote:have no interest in seeing "gladiator 2"

That would be funny if I didn't think in some way Russell Crowe was trying to bottle the lightning that was Gladiator and try to get that magic again.

That's just the vibe I get from the trailer.

jaydee74 wrote:

ChrisToPhenom wrote:Hahaha! Some Ole Bullsh-t?! I knew it!

This is too funny.

Hah! Spill.com rocks. Even with they're humor, usually pretty dead-on. Whenever I see a movie, I share my opinion with at least one of them pretty closely.