Notably the film is directed by Ridley Scott, and the marketing and finished product angle is to make this the “Gladiator” version of “Robin Hood.” But let’s not forget that Scott directed “Kingdom of Heaven,” which put some people into a three hour coma. Scott mimics the visual strategy of his earlier success, taking the gritty old-world terrain and desaturating the colors even further, while also using flickering candlelight as a seeming natural source.
But Scott’s serious-mindedness, along with screenwriter Brian Helgeland (whom wrote two overlong pics “Man on Fire” and “The Postman”), suck the juicy adventure out of the classic tale in favor of boring smart talk that stinks of “Kingdom of Heaven” waste. Kings and clergy have many verbose conversations on the meanings of politics, the servitude of the common peoples, and such. So much said about honor, justice, valor, nation’s pride. So obtusely strung together that minutes later you won’t remember who said what or care. There’s no time for Scott or Helgeland to include a scene of Robin stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Nor is there a swordfight.
The question remains as to whether you are the kind of moviegoer that can hang in there and wait for the exciting 20-minute finale, where cool bow-and-arrow stuff happens. The raiding and persecuting of the denizens of Nottingham has a cruel serpent suspense to it. Supremely, the climax is filmed in hyperspeed, with army men unleashed from watercraft boats, in a way that recalls the Normandy invasion that opens “Saving Private Ryan” (What the hell, why not?). Scott doesn’t skimp on the shots where you see a thousand arrows shot high in the air, only to plummet at lethal speeds at an army desperately raising their shields to protect their faces while the vertiginous camera bursts over the action.
The ending comes alive in a way that almost makes you forget what you had to slog through to get there. Crowe is more brooding than merry, and that’s alright (but it’s far from his best performance on film, he’s inward and glum). The Sheriff of Nottingham (Matthew Macfadyen) is almost an afterthought. Robin’s Merry Men – four of them – are valorous but offered to make only a couple of amusing, ribbing remarks. Danny Huston does good work as the fallen King Richard the Lionheart, his majestic aplomb is bigger than anyone else’s and we admire his stature even if we don’t care for his methods of making examples out of lesser men.
Then there is Maid Marion, more here known as Marion Loxley, is played by Cate Blanchett (“Elizabeth,” “The Aviator”). Why studios, filmmakers and audiences have marveled in her over the years is a mystery to me. She lacks the very ability to express that quintessential quality called… emotion. When Robin enters her life at Nottingham, and is given hand to him by her father (Max von Sydow), she goes into cold, don’t-touch-me-or-I’ll-sever-your-manhood-mode. Somebody out there is defiantly angry with this review (I know, she’s supposed to be like that). But even when Marion kisses he-man Robin for the first time, she conjectures a melting heart look that still reminds one more of the Tin Man than of a blossoming woman swept away by the possibilities of love blazing on fire.
This is a busy, scene-shifting historical drama that offers few familiar pleasures, but Scott, a master of the zooming lens, does make the forests into an emerald-colored visual feast. But the speechifying gnaws on your patience. One has to fear if Scott puts out a future DVD of “Robin Hood: Super Deluxe Extended Edition with More Endless Speeches.” If that ever happens, I’ll go as far as to take back every mean thing I ever said about Kevin Costner’s “Prince of Thieves” which is looking better with every undeserved buck that Scott’s film will earn in box office receipts.
Go to the official site at http://www.robinhoodthemovie.com/
Grade: C-
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