Robin Hood (2010, PG-13, 131 minutes) starring Russell Crowe as Robin Longstride, Cate Blanchett as Marion Loxley, William Hurt as William Marshall, Max von Sydow as Sir Walter Loxley, Oscar Isaac as Prince/King John and Mark Addy as Friar Tuck.
The timing of this film coincides with much of the world suffering economic turmoil which has always been the central theme of the Robin Hood legend. Robbing from the rich and giving to the poor has always been the misnomer of Robin Hood. He wasn’t simply robbing from the rich, he was returning to the people what was rightfully theirs and this movie shows this in more basic terms. We all need our own Robin Hoods right now. I always pictured Robin outwitting the Sheriff of Nottingham to steal the tax money back for the common people. This film makes more sense as Robin, along with the familiar Little John, Allen A’Dayle, Will Scarlet and Friar Tuck, rob the King’s tax wagon to reclaim seeds for Nottingham’s harvest, without which the townspeople would surely starve. Most people root for the underdog when pitted against a greedy government and this movie is no different. This film gives the average person hope and reminds all of us that our voices count and we need to fight for what is ours. One of my favorite lines of the movie is by Prince John, “poverty has always been the song of rich men.”
The story is the telling of the tale of Robin Longstride and how he becomes the hero to the down-trodden, Robin of the Hood. It is somewhat a prequel to all of the other Robin Hood films before it. It is a film of love and cruelty and honor and bravery and good versus evil. The scenes of storming castles and field battles were beautifully filmed with breathtaking country-sides and seascapes as backdrops. The film is at times bloody and violent but these were bloody violent times. This version of Robin Hood is a film interwoven with actual historical events similar to Gladiator, Braveheart and The Patriot. It is continuous action with many of the expected aspects of the Robin Hood legend intertwined with fresh parts of the story to keep the tale new and believable.
Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, both veterans of historically-based films, were brilliant as always. The story is left open so the adventures can continue but I don’t see Crowe or Blanchett being the sequel types. I hope I am wrong because I would like to see the story continue but I don’t believe I would be interested if their roles were picked-up by other actors. I would like to see more of the interaction between Robin and his sidekicks and especially Friar Tuck (played by Mark Addy who you may remember as Fred Flintstone in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas). I have always been a fan of Friar Tuck because he was his own man while caring deeply about and looking out for the people he shepherded. Addy is very believable and likable in this role. The Sheriff of Nottingham (Matthew Macfadyen) had a much smaller role than one might expect as well but he is set up to take a much larger part in subsequent chapters of this new adventure series.
I strongly recommend Robin Hood to anyone who loves the classic love story and seeing people (both good and evil) get what they rightfully deserve. Three and a half out of five stars (since stars are the universal way to measure a film’s worth).
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