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Robin Hood - the latest Hollywood treatment

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Sir William:
Ok, so I finally got a chance to sit down and watch this and I have to say...I liked it.  True to Hollywood form, much of it isn't what you'd call historically accurate, or even plausible in some cases ('help me with my chainmail' made me cringe, believe it or not- altho just a year or so ago I wouldn't have blinked, not knowing then that 'chainmail' is a 20th C term) but it was entertaining at times and I did like the action sequences, what there were of them.  I watched the unedited version so I may have set myself up for the okey-doke in that regard (you know how they like to put in extra footage, but not always of a type that's worth putting in) but in all, I did enjoy the movie.

The characterizations weren't all bad...William Marshal portrayed as a stoic bastion to John's immature braying was adequate, although I wouldn't have chosen William Hurt for that part, he just doesn't evince the kind of bad ass the Marshal truly was.  I would've chosen Liam Neeson for that part, personally...and I didn't care for Eleanor's portrayal as I always felt her to be of strong character, unafraid to speak her mind, etc...this one was portrayed as cunning but low-key.  Maybe I'm wrong, but it didn't do it for me.  I think the casting choices for Little John, Tuck, Alan Dale and Will Scarlett were good ones, and you can't go wrong with Cate Blanchett far as I'm concerned, always was a fan of hers.

I thought that the accent Crowe used sounded more Irish than English, but it didn't always sound the same either so who knows, maybe he got more into character as the shooting schedule progressed.  I thought that Crowe put a little too much 'brooding' into this part and of all the characters, him being cast as Robin wasn't the best choice.  Obviously the director likes him, and he's good on a horse and handy with a sword but I just didn't believe in him.  Don't know how else to explain it.

Maybe I'll go back and watch the theatrical version, see if it makes it any better to me.  All in all, I'd give this a 2 out of 4 stars w/regard to mainstream movies; as far as medieval movies go, I'll give it a 3 out of 4 since the production values were excellent, and I do so love that particular period of history so its a gas for me anytime it is featured.

Your thoughts, fellow knights?  I know some of you didn't care for it, but didn't necessarily elaborate as to why.

Sir Wolf:
i haven't gotten to see it. it's on my Christmas list if it comes out in time though

Sir William:
Its out on DVD if that's what you mean...think you can still get it at Target for like $15.  I have a number of movies I need to acquire though, ARN being first among them.  I have the Swedish version I got like two years ago but I want the official version.

Sir James A:
I actually cringed at the "help me with my chainmail" part too. :)

I thought the combat was okay, but obviously had the hollywood "flair" to it, of course. I don't know why, but I had a hard time making sense of the movie.

*SPOILER ALERT**DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVENT SEEN IT**























Near the beginning when the king dies, my wife and I both said "wait, what?" because we haven't seen any other Robin Hood in which the king dies. Disney, Men in Tights .. the king comes back to put his brother in his place at the end.

I think they were going for some kind of link between Robin Hood and Masons/Freemasonry. I couldn't quite tell if it was intentional, or just clumsy coincidence. I never did figure out what they were trying to do with it, and again, I've never seen that in any other Robin Hood movie or story I've seen/read.

Marian getting stuck underwater towards the end was another thing that bugged me. The boats crashing into each other made no sense, and as somebody with an archery background, the whole shooting a wet bow and arrow that distance with that accuracy made my toes twinge. Wet fletching? Wet bow string? Wet wood? Guess there had to be a dramatic superlucky/superhuman bow shot in the movie somewhere, right?

Aside from those things, I felt that all of the "merry men" were woefully underdeveloped and unused in the story. They have always been a bigger part to the story, especially with the time they spent together "before" the movie timeframe.

In the end, I ended up googling Robin Longstride to see if there was some sort of basis to the movie. I admittedly didn't look for a long time, but I couldn't find any reference to it. I thought perhaps the movie was taking a more historical basis than the "fairy tale" version that is more popular, and in the end, not finding that to be the case, it made me think a bit less of the movie too.

Crowe tried, but he did a mediocre at best Robin Hood. Part of it might be my subconscious link to him being in Gladiator, so others might not be so critical.

Sir William:
Well, I think they were trying to do something else with the whole Robin Hood legend since, admittedly, its been done to death- so much so, everyone knows the core story by heart, right?

I liked that they took the Crusader part and made that integral to the story- besides, Richard dying paved the way for John to really mess things up.  I liked how they portrayed him too...a little bit evil, but mostly just self-serving and immature, but not cowardly.  I kinda liked him in spite of himself...he reminds me of many little brothers I have known over the years; impetuous, envious of the older (and usually better liked) brother, but in awe of him as well.

I missed the Freemasonry reference but I guess I wasn't looking for it so there you have it.  I guess the Merry men could've been used more...but I felt they were represented well, seeing as they were all competent fighters who'd been at the same Crusades as Robin, made sense they'd be in the final battle.  They did show one scene of them doing their Sherwood thing...figured it was their homage to the old R Hood movies of the past.

I didn't bother looking up Longstride...the name itself sounds facetious to me, but there's probably someone with that very name somewhere in the world, right?  I didn't think Longstride was an apt moniker for Robin either, as he is neither very tall, nor is his stride all that long but what do I know.

I think you nailed it- the subconscious link to Gladiator prevented me from fully believing in him as Robin which is funny- because he's quite good at everything else he's done far as I'm concerned, he just didn't do it for me in this one.  Too swarthy...I always picture Robin Hood as he looked in the Errol Flynn days...damn Hollywood.  lol

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