Robin Hood (2010) - Movie Review

Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe reunite once more to bring us something that absolutely no one asked for – another Robin Hood interpretation. However, this particular story talks about the man before the legend was created, back when he was not Robin Hood but Robin Longstride, an archer in the army of King Richard Coeur de Lion (Danny Huston) caught in the midst of war with the French.


After the king dies in battle, Robin and his three followers Will Scarlett, Alan-a-Dale and Little John, (Scott Grimes, Alan Doyle, Kevin Durand) abandon the war and try to return home. Along the way they find an ambushed platoon of English soldiers who were in charge of returning the slain king’s crown back to England. Among these soldiers is a dying Sir Robert Loxley who is attempting to right a wrong that he felt he committed against his father – stealing his blind father’s sword before leaving for battle. Sir Robert makes Robin promise to return the sword to his father, Sir Walter Loxley (Max Von Sydow).

To gain voyage on the ship back to England, the rogue quartet disguise themselves as English soldiers; Robin Longstride assumes the identity of Sir Robert Loxley.

With King Richard dead, his miserly son, Prince John (Oscar Isaac) takes control of England and begins leveling outrageous taxes amongst all the citizens, and if they cannot pay they are banished or killed. Prince John’s – now King John’s ravenous reign stretches into to desolate village Nottingham where Robin and his crew have returned to fulfill Robin’s vow to Sir Robert. When he does so, Robin meets Marion Loxley (Cate Blanchett), now Sir Robert’s widow. She takes him to meet Sir Walter. After hearing the news of the death of his son, Sir Walter hatches a plan – in order so that the family will not lose their land, Robin must continue to portray himself as Sir Robert, and if he does so, Sir Walter will tell Robin about the father that Robin says abandoned him when he was only a child.

Soon, Robin sees what King John is doing to the people of England, so he gathers his friends and slowly the legend of Robin Hood starts to rise, culminating in one last battle against an invading French army.

It took several years and even more script revisions for this film to happen. Originally, Ridley Scott had intended for the Sherriff of Nottingham to use primitive detective skills in order to bring down Robin Hood. Russell Crowe had even mentioned wanting to play both the Sherriff and Robin Hood, but after so many rewrites and interference from Universal Pictures, what finally made it to the big screen was an entertaining action-adventure film. It did not have the “epic” feel that perhaps Gladiator did, but script bared no empty space and the whole cast delivered lustrous performances for their explosive characters. There was a moment when I wondered if I was going to be getting out of the theater any time soon, and I also wondered how unattractive the other women in Nottingham must have been if Cate Blanchett was the best that Robin Longstride could settle for, but luckily the film picked itself back up and once again harnessed my complete interest. It was time well spent and a good movie to lose one’s self in.