I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood. I was extremely skeptical of this film for quite a few reasons and sat down to watch it with low expectations at best. From the time I heard about this project I thought that Crowe was woefully miscast as everyone’s favorite arrow slinger. Russell Crowe as Robin Hood!? Ten years ago I would’ve been psyched about that but Mr. Crowe seems a tad too old now to be playing the champion of Sherwood Forest. The trailer didn’t help either. It made the film look like a rehash of Scott and Crowe’s Gladiator set in Sherwood Forest, lacking any of the humor or the warmth the character is so well known for. I was expecting a long, tedious film with endless battle scenes devoid of any emotion but I was wrong. Instead Robin Hood is a well paced, action filled film that is jam packed with political intrigue and anchored by terrific performances from a solid cast. It’s not perfect; there are a few things lacking, but overall I enjoyed the rebooted version of Robin of the Hood very much.

This is not your typical Robin Hood movie with him butting heads with the Sheriff of Nottingham and stealing from the rich to provide for the poor. This is very much an origin story, a precursor to the story we all know so well. The film starts with a cool battle scene showing Robin as an archer, fighting in the service of King Richard (Danny Huston) of England during the Crusades. We’ve all seen battle scenes like this in films like Braveheart and of course, Gladiator. One of my biggest complaints with epic battle scenes is that they are too often filmed in a hyper-kinetic fashion that make it difficult to see what is actually going on, but Scott throws in a few new flourishes and the action is very easy to follow. In fact, I found every battle scene (and there are quite a few) to be completely engaging.

I don’t want to give away too many of the plot points, but through a series of events, Robin and his fellow soldiers in arms have to impersonate knights in order to get back to England. Robin pretends to be the recently slain Sir Robert Loxley and is tasked with presenting the crown of fallen King Richard to his mother and brother, the dastardly Prince John (Oscar Isaac) who then inherits the throne. John is a whiny, spoiled brat, who demands respect through fear tactics and who unfairly begins to steal from his subjects in the name of taxation. He dispenses the villainous Marshall Godfrey (Mark Strong) to collect his loot from anyone who cooperates and to remove anyone who doesn’t. What the new king doesn’t know is that Godfrey is a double agent working for King Phillip of France, who hopes to invade England. 

Robin visits the father of the knight he is impersonating, Sir Walter Loxley (a wonderful Max Von Sydow) to return his sword (birthright) and tell him the truth about his son’s demise. It seems Sir Loxley owes the king back taxes and asks Robin to continue the charade in order to help him protect his land. Robin agrees and must pretend to be married to the feisty, pro-feminist, Maid Marion (Cate Blanchett) who isn’t too happy with the arrangement. The two get off to a rough start but soon fall in love as everyone already knows. Crowe and Blanchett share an easy chemistry and are quite good together but their love story is underserved here. The film needed a little more romance and a few more scenes of them getting to know and like one another. 

Angry at their new king’s unfair policies, England is on the verge of civil war until Robin reunites them in the face of a common enemy, France. There is a high amount of medieval politics in between and it is to Scott’s credit that the film doesn’t get bogged down here. I tend to get bored during scenes like these and as a result lost, but Scott and screenwriter Brian Helgeland keep it very easy to follow and the actors kept me interested. 

Robin Hood is a character that is known for his quick wit and derring-do and I was afraid that Crowe would make the character too sullen and depressing, but he embodies a warm, heroic nature that is apparent from the very first time he is on screen. He is a very believable Robin and I would like to see him play the character again. Cate Blanchett gives a feisty performance as Maid Marion, a 12^th century woman with modern ideals. Her character is slightly underdeveloped however, and as a result, Blanchett is under used. With the exception of Robin, most of the characters are underdeveloped and this is perhaps my biggest complaint about the film. Kevin Durand (Little John), Scott Grimes (Will Scarlet) and Alan Doyle (Allan A’Dayle) portray Robin’s friends as merry men indeed and it is a testament to each of the actors that you care about their characters despite knowing nothing about them. The trio does much to lighten the mood of the film and I wish they would’ve been used more.

Oscar Isaac is sheer perfection as King John. He is a cowardly, spoiled brat and you will love to hate him. The character almost reaches redemption during the final battle with France, but quickly dissolves back into the tyrannical, greedy SOB that he was at the start of the film, saving his comeuppance for another day (movie). Mark Strong is well… strong as the evil Godfrey, attacking his lines with malice. Strong has become the go to actor for dastardly villains, recently playing the antagonist in both Sherlock Holmes and Kick-Ass and each performance has been decidedly different than the last.

To sum it up, although the film could’ve been lighter in spots and featured more romance, Robin Hood is a thoroughly entertaining reimagining of the classic character. The film ends just as his legend is beginning and I for one would be excited to see it fully explored in a sequel, but I’m not holding my breath.