Robin Hood (2010)
Yet another Robin Hood film has graced the silver screen this year, this one directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett. The film contains plenty of the elements that we are used to in Scott movies and they show just why Ridley Scott is such a good director and that he has lost none of his eye for detail and breathtaking landscapes. Somehow he manages to make even the poor town of Nottingham look magnificent.
Russell Crowe is a man who is hardly liked by the media and by movie fans these days. A rather “full of himself”attitude and some Prima Donna behaviour has gotten him into this position and it will be difficult for him to get out of it.
However, I doubt he cares and it doesn’t really matter as he is still a great actor. He performs well as the lead in this movie, despite having a very dodgy accent that moves between a Sheffield, Scottish, Irish and Australian accent. He famously stormed out of a recent interview when question about this accent. His presence on screen has not diminished since Gladiator and he can convincingly wield a sword, something that is often overlooked in other action movies set in the past.
Cate Blanchett also does admirable work as Lady Marian, playing a strong woman who is trying to help her people in very difficult circumstances. However, for me, the best of the supporting cast was Mark Addy as Friar Tuck. He plays the role with the right amount of seriousness and whimsy to create a character you instantly fall in love with.
The sets and costumes are all incredible, we would expect no less from Mr Scott, and are all believable as well, even the future DVD Packaging has a touch of whimsy as well. The action scenes don’t suffer from dodgy camera work (as is often a problem these days, an example being the recent Clash of the Titans movie) and are well choreographed.
Whilst there are some silly scenes in this movie, you will know which ones I mean when you see them, it is generally a very solid effort by Ridley Scott to tell the well known tale of Robin Hood in a slightly different fashion. This movie does not hit the heights of Gladiator, but then that was Ridley Scott’s “Dark Side of the Moon”, but it easily entertains and is a success.
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