As one would expect from Ridley Scott, Robin Hood was entertaining epic fun, with just enough emotional feeling to set it apart from other Hollywood adventure films. It is a prequel to the Robin Hood story, it gives us a back ground to the vigilantly hero and how he becomes an outlaw, played by Australia’s own Russel Crowe. Along the way we meet the band of Merry Men, along with Robin Hood’s love interest Lady Marion, played by Cate Blanchett. The film ties in the fall of King Richard and the rise of his brother King John, Robin Hood’s eventual enemy.
Yes I’ll agree the film does not exactly go anywhere new; the action scenes evoke déjà vu while Crowe embodies his Gladiator character and Blanchette embodies her Elizabeth character. Do not get me wrong though, both performances are naturally amazing, and I would hate to think how bad the film would be without the casting of these two leads. The chemistry between the two is credible enough, one problem I had with it though was the fact that the film seemed to glide over the ‘falling-in-love’ part of their relationship, and all of a sudden the audience was forced to believe that they were soul mates. This of course could be due to the fact that the writers knew that the audience knows the eventual outcome of their relationship but I feel their love was forced to quickly upon the characters. The one performance that I thought stood out from the rest, was Oscar Isaac’s portrayal of the cowardly, desperate and greedy King John – a character we love to hate.
The action scenes might as well have been copied from Brave Heart or Gladiator, and I feel that they didn’t really utilise Robin Hood’s great archery abilities. His abilities again were assumed, without giving the audience enough evidence of his amazing capabilities at the opening of the film. If they had done this, then perhaps the climax in the final scene would have been more rewarding.
The filmmakers naturally left enough room for a sequel to be created, and although this film will not be nominated for Best Picture categories, it is possible that it could become a healthly franchise – only time will tell.
So if you want to sit down and be entertained, choose Robin Hood, you can definitely do a lot worse; ie. The Losers.
Yes I’ll agree the film does not exactly go anywhere new; the action scenes evoke déjà vu while Crowe embodies his Gladiator character and Blanchette embodies her Elizabeth character. Do not get me wrong though, both performances are naturally amazing, and I would hate to think how bad the film would be without the casting of these two leads. The chemistry between the two is credible enough, one problem I had with it though was the fact that the film seemed to glide over the ‘falling-in-love’ part of their relationship, and all of a sudden the audience was forced to believe that they were soul mates. This of course could be due to the fact that the writers knew that the audience knows the eventual outcome of their relationship but I feel their love was forced to quickly upon the characters. The one performance that I thought stood out from the rest, was Oscar Isaac’s portrayal of the cowardly, desperate and greedy King John – a character we love to hate.The action scenes might as well have been copied from Brave Heart or Gladiator, and I feel that they didn’t really utilise Robin Hood’s great archery abilities. His abilities again were assumed, without giving the audience enough evidence of his amazing capabilities at the opening of the film. If they had done this, then perhaps the climax in the final scene would have been more rewarding.
The filmmakers naturally left enough room for a sequel to be created, and although this film will not be nominated for Best Picture categories, it is possible that it could become a healthly franchise – only time will tell.
So if you want to sit down and be entertained, choose Robin Hood, you can definitely do a lot worse; ie. The Losers.
