BLOGS07 | 2010-06-23
"Robin Hood" - PG-13DT: It appears as though Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott are trying to repeat the success they had with "Gladiator" with yet another costume adventure, this time with the legendary thief of Sherwood Forest. While it is a watchable yarn, full of realistic period details, sword and arrow filled scenes of combat and capable stars such as Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow and William Hurt in key roles, there remains the fact that it struggles to be entertaining. Mr. Crowe's Robin, while a formidable foe on the field of battle, is a rather humorless and unlikeable hero. His pals are a more entertaining bunch in spite of the fact that they look quite a bit more scruffy and smelly than Robin.
DM: Indeed, Robin Crow has its fair share of troubles making a case to jump-start any kind of sustainable excitement. He's just kind of a droll fellow who is eye-poppingly good with a bow and arrow. Light some tarry fire on the end of that bad boy and you've got one quality entry to America's Got Talent. That's about all his character is worth in this film.
DT: Still, he gets the job done in the end, sort of, mostly. One of the problems with the film is how familiar we all are with the story; we all know how it must turn out in the end. The only thing to do with the familiar story is to tweak it a bit, add some details in the area of production design and give it a rousing score to tell you what to feel. Sadly, they forgot to put in the things that make a film entertaining: A story that's engaging, characters that you care about and all of those production details can also set apart a film from the rest of the pack.
DM: Once again, we see a big Hollywood budget flick trying to cover up what amounts to a paltry script. How many times can audiences be wowwed by zillions of arrows arching skyward toward some forlorn castle which is doomed as doomed can be, and that ever-popular scene where we see the entire shot from the point of view of the arrow itself as it zings through the air?
DT: I'm looking forward to someone filming a scene from a bee's viewpoint as an arrow goes flying past while he's buzzing along minding his own business. "Hey, I'm flying here!" he yells. But I digress.
DM: It also doesn't help that Robin Crowe looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy two weeks into Tae Bo lessons. Had we seen it in 3-D we could have seen Robin Crowe's chubby gut coming at us in three dimensional goodness!
DT: Do people still do Tae Bo? I thought it would have been replaced a few times by now with trendier workouts with even funnier names. But to get back to the film, it's muddy feet are firmly planted between horrible and great, which considering the fine folks who made it, proves to be a bit disappointing to this filmgoer.
DM: I guess if you like Russell Crowe — post-Gladiator, along with guys parading around dressed in a mixture of mud and horse dung, and plot lines that dag along inconspicuously as to not emit any kind of reaction from the viewer whatsoever, then hey, have at it, this one's for you. For the rest of us, well, let me just say, "Verily, fie on thee portly Robin of Loxley. Prithee thou wilst find comfort in thy good morrow with some finer fare."
DM: 44, DT: 50