*** Official ROBIN HOOD Review Thread (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

Overall, I found "Robin Hood" to be a little too drabby, but with its intentions to "keep it real" in the setting of the late 1190's, the look of the film would tend to have a faded out color palette. It's almost too dreary at times, characters have poor dental hygiene and big smiles at times, and the criss-crossing of character motivations is very bland and one-note, as well as the plot momentum sputtering and eventual climax of the final act not as satisfying as I'd hope for in this genre of movie. The script just isn't as economical enough.


I'd hope Robin's merry men had a little more to do, the film's midsection sags quite a bit for a film with a 140 minute running time, and it feels all of that amount of time by the end, all in an effort to set the table for the stakes at the end, but it never feels all that involving or entertaining. Not sure if I bought into the chemistry between Russell and Cate Blanchette as Robin Hood and Maid Marian, and that's a big chunk of "getting it right" when it comes to the Robin Hood stories, I think.


Direction-wise, Ridley Scott seemed much looser in shot selection, relied on the Gladiator-like action footage style for some degree in the battle sequences, but not as a crutch, but the scenes played out as awkwardly as he probably intended, battles were messy.


I give it 2.5 stars, or a grade of C+.

 

[mattCR]

I checked my watch.. a lot. This really doesn't work. The action set pieces are cut in a way that isn't very interesting, and the performances may put you to sleep.


D

 

[Scott McGillivray]

Just got back from seeing it. *sigh* As others have said, this is not an entertaining movie. I was not engaged at any point. All the action sequences have been done before and if I dont care about the characters involved, I dont care about the action. The story, as RobertR points out, has pretty much NOTHING to do with Robin Hood. I would not mind that quite so much if I knew that ahead of time. Also, I would have forgiven it if it helped me really get to know Robin and his men. Hell, other than Little John, I cant recall the others names let alone anything about their characters. Even Little John we dont get to know anything about. We get a glimpse into Friar Tuck...but not much.

Oh...what was up with the king? His character just was unbelievable and uninteresting from start to finish. Why would he do what he does at the end? It had no explanation or motivation at all. My wife and I were just rolling our eyes at the end. It was like they realized near the end of the film that they had best setup the sequel where the real story should happen. On that note, are we really to expect a sequel? Has Ridley Scott ever shot a sequel? When this one flops (and I can't see how it wont) will they really fund another huge chunk of money to bring Russel Crow back?


It was very well shot. It had some great performances (especially my old favorite Max Von Sydow. He is just so damn good!) But the story was SO dull and the film so familiar. There was not one scene that "wowed" me.

Oh...the music was good.

Give this one a pass and maybe rent it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now the Official Review Thread for "Robin Hood". Please post all HTF member reviews in this thread.

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Crawdaddy

 

[Ron-P]

Now I can understand why so many did not like this film, they went in expecting a Kevin Costner style version. This film far exceeds any "Robin Hood" film in every way, absolutely amazing. One I will be adding to the collection.

 

Very entertaining, very engaging with a very good storyline, good acting and amazing cinematography. Easily my favorite Robin Hood film to date.