Robin Hood 2010
Posted on June 13th, 2010
Robin Hood 2010
[Rating: 7.5/10]
It is the late 12th century an archer in Richard’s army makes a promise to a dying knight, only to find himself saddled with a task that will seal his fate.
This is the beginning of the outlaw known as Robin Hood.
When one who is familiar with movies and english folklore and asked to picture Robin Hood, what do you think of?
Lush green forests, a group of men making merry, clad in brown and green? Robbing the rich and giving to the poor. Maybe singing at every opportunity and wearing tights. Perhaps not even men, forest animals (ala Disney). We think of an evil and sly sheriff. We think of an innocent young maiden who falls for the outlaw.
Well, all I can say is that is not that Robin Hood you will be seeing in this movie.
Here he is a simple archer who has an adventure thrown upon him because he decides to assume the identity of a dying knight (Sir Robery Loxley) and escape safely back to England – sure he made the promise to take the sword back to said Knight’s family and such, but on the whole, he was just doing what he needed to survive. Here Robin Longstride is a middle-aged battle-worn soldier who has apparently lost the memories of his childhood. His ‘merry men’ are the band of fellow soldiers who have escaped with him, later including a group of orphans in the forests of Sherwood. Maid Marion (Lady Loxley) is a headstrong woman who has been left in charge of her war gallavanting husband’s estate; and England is bleak and gloomy yet enchanting at the same time, but definitely not all green fields and clear skies. Of the versions of Robin Hood I’ve seen, I have to admit this is probably the most realistic and believable, should there have been such a figure in history.
I feel an important thing to note is that this movie is not about Robin Hood the Outlaw, but rather how he came to be an Outlaw, for he is only exiled right at the end. It may not be clear from the trailers (though I haven’t seen all of them), but this movie focuses on the French vs. English conflict and the Crusades. There is a whole host of new characters and Prince John plays a more active role as the main villan as opposed to the Sheriff of Nottingham, who hardly appears, and everytime he does, he’s pretty much a spineless coward. Which could be quite disappointing if you were expecting a character similar to the one Alan Rickman played in the past. He is assisted by Sir Godfrey, a fictitious English knight who is secretly plotting with the French King. Interestingly, Richard also dies pretty much near the start of the film so this plot point veers quite drastically from other versions where Richard was in hiding as a mysterious knight and emerged to claim his throne back later.
The cast was really good, and while I’m not a huge fan of Russell Crowe, his chemistry with Cate Blanchett who played Marion was simply electric and built up nicely (ie, they did not fall for each other immediately and it actually had time to develop). I really like Marion as an independant widow rather as it gave her more depth and added to the more realistic tone of the movie. Blanchett always has this wonderfully poised sort of air about her and her figure just commanded presence even though dressed in simple gowns and often caked with dirt due to the farm work and labour Marion had to do. She balanced the survivor traits and shyness of Marion very well. I like how everyone had to help out in the fields. Prince John’s character was also given a whole new angle as while he was generally as a spoiled and arrogant bastard, he did have the odd moment where you felt nearly pitiful towards him, and when he led the army into battle against the French for a moment, I did wonder if the script would go a different way (as it already had taken a direction I had not expected from the start) , and perhaps there might be a very slight chance than he might change… Unfortunately not, but it was expected. Still, to feel something for his character after his rather standard cookie cutter versions in other adaptations, I’d say it wasn’t a bad thing. The female cast was quite strong, with John’s mother, Queen Eleanor and his first wife, Isabella being notable. I would’ve liked to see what happened to his first wife but she disappeared after he remarried. The plot also had a lot going on to keep one interested, even without the storyline about Robin’s past, I really enjoyed the efforts at merging it with historical events and feel it would have been quite substantial.
That said, a fine adaptation of this tried and tested story. I was debating on whether to say this is ‘family friendly viewing’ as it has themes like death, war and betrayal in it, but considering movies like Harry Potter, I think it would be fine for older children as well. Probably not for you if you prefer something more ‘merry’. For History buffs and period movie fans, it is a good piece of entertainment.
Filed under: ** movie, drama, historical