The new version of Robin Hood views the story from a new angle, placing
the action after the ascension of King John (Oscar Isaacs). The story opens with Robin
(Russell Crowe) as an archer in the service of King Richard the Lion-hearted, who was
returning from the Crusades and laying siege to a castle in France on
the way. This is very like how Robin and Marion (with Sean Connery and
Audrey Hepburn) opened. In the wake of King Richard's death, Robin
returns to England. However, he assumes the identity of a knight he
finds dying on the road, a man named Robert Loxley. Much of the
identifiable Robin Hood tale is missing or hardly touched upon. His
only robbery is to steal some bags of seed for the fields of Nottingham.
The Sherriff of Nottingham is mostly a comic figure who proves
generally incompetent and not at all intimidating. Really, this movie
is about Robin helping to unite the barons with King John to defend
against a French invasion fleet.
It is posited that Robin's father proposed the Magna Carta and, in the movie, the King is forced to accede to the demands of his barons to consider such a charter to win their aid against the French invasion. Of course, the moment the invasion is thwarted, he burns the charter. Yes, it will be another 15 years before it is forced upon him. Back to Robin, it is odd that a humble archer of the 12th/13th Century is literate. Even the noble knights were often not literate, but an orphan left on his own since age six is literate. This is unusual enough that it should have been explained.
One peculiar bit was the existence of the orphans in the forest. In the opening of the movie, children in crude masks ransack the Loxley barn. Later, we see these youths steal from Robin and his men while they slept in the wilds. These lost boys are runaways from Nottingham, living a Lord of the Flies existence. Marian (Cate Blanchett) works her way among them through force of will while Robin makes the same journey as an unconscious captive tied to a branch like some felled deer. Even so, Robin wins their respect.
Robin has his crew. Little John is a common soldier who wields a huge hammer. The two brawl in the beginning but it is not with staves; strong friendship ensues. There is also Will Scarlet and Allan A'Dayle. Friar Tuck is the newly installed priest at Nottingham, a beekeeper who likes his mead (wine made from honey). All are fairly well-developed for supporting characters.
I tire of female warriors. I liked Xena and I've enjoyed Lara Croft but this is getting out of hand. In King Arthur (2004), we had Guinevere: Warrior Princess. In Pirates of the Caribbean, we had Emily Swann: Pirate Princess. In the British TV version of Robin Hood, Maid Marion is a vigilante in ninja garb. In this movie, we have Maid Marian donning armor, leading the orphan brigade against the French invasion, and daring to engage Godfrey in single combat. You have got to be kidding. Yes, there are historical examples of women warriors but they were the exception, not the rule. Today, it seems no period movie can do without transforming the women into warriors. I can hardly wait for the epic story of the Civil War where we meet Mary Todd Lincoln: Warrior First Lady.
Godfrey (Mark Strong), the movie's primary villain, was robbed. English archers were the dominant force of European battlefields for centuries but, if forced into a swordfight with a knight, they would be dead very quickly. Robin should have been no match for Godfrey in a sword fight. That the entirely untrained Marian unhorsed him was just a travesty.
The movie does overlook a few things. King John did marry Isabella of Angouleme. She was 12 years-old at the time, much younger than the 25 year-old Lea Seydoux who plays her. What happened to the King Richard's army? It was left in France and yet France is able to stage an invasion of England rather than engage the English army still in France? Considering that the movie takes place immediately upon the death of Richard, there should be mention of Arthur. John's older brother, Geoffrey, had a son named Arthur. Arthur had a legitimate claim to the throne – arguably a better claim than John – and he romped around English holdings in France during the initial years of John's reign. Rebellious barons would certainly have called for the overthrow of John in favor of Arthur. At one point in the film, there is a funeral. A funeral pyre is lit. Catholicism frowned on cremation, viewing it as a pagan practice.
Robin is not declared outlaw until the movie ends. We see him living a life of contentment somewhere in Sherwood Forest. Perhaps this is meant to setup a sequel that will be more in line with the traditional stories of Robin Hood.
It is posited that Robin's father proposed the Magna Carta and, in the movie, the King is forced to accede to the demands of his barons to consider such a charter to win their aid against the French invasion. Of course, the moment the invasion is thwarted, he burns the charter. Yes, it will be another 15 years before it is forced upon him. Back to Robin, it is odd that a humble archer of the 12th/13th Century is literate. Even the noble knights were often not literate, but an orphan left on his own since age six is literate. This is unusual enough that it should have been explained.
One peculiar bit was the existence of the orphans in the forest. In the opening of the movie, children in crude masks ransack the Loxley barn. Later, we see these youths steal from Robin and his men while they slept in the wilds. These lost boys are runaways from Nottingham, living a Lord of the Flies existence. Marian (Cate Blanchett) works her way among them through force of will while Robin makes the same journey as an unconscious captive tied to a branch like some felled deer. Even so, Robin wins their respect.
Robin has his crew. Little John is a common soldier who wields a huge hammer. The two brawl in the beginning but it is not with staves; strong friendship ensues. There is also Will Scarlet and Allan A'Dayle. Friar Tuck is the newly installed priest at Nottingham, a beekeeper who likes his mead (wine made from honey). All are fairly well-developed for supporting characters.
I tire of female warriors. I liked Xena and I've enjoyed Lara Croft but this is getting out of hand. In King Arthur (2004), we had Guinevere: Warrior Princess. In Pirates of the Caribbean, we had Emily Swann: Pirate Princess. In the British TV version of Robin Hood, Maid Marion is a vigilante in ninja garb. In this movie, we have Maid Marian donning armor, leading the orphan brigade against the French invasion, and daring to engage Godfrey in single combat. You have got to be kidding. Yes, there are historical examples of women warriors but they were the exception, not the rule. Today, it seems no period movie can do without transforming the women into warriors. I can hardly wait for the epic story of the Civil War where we meet Mary Todd Lincoln: Warrior First Lady.
Godfrey (Mark Strong), the movie's primary villain, was robbed. English archers were the dominant force of European battlefields for centuries but, if forced into a swordfight with a knight, they would be dead very quickly. Robin should have been no match for Godfrey in a sword fight. That the entirely untrained Marian unhorsed him was just a travesty.
The movie does overlook a few things. King John did marry Isabella of Angouleme. She was 12 years-old at the time, much younger than the 25 year-old Lea Seydoux who plays her. What happened to the King Richard's army? It was left in France and yet France is able to stage an invasion of England rather than engage the English army still in France? Considering that the movie takes place immediately upon the death of Richard, there should be mention of Arthur. John's older brother, Geoffrey, had a son named Arthur. Arthur had a legitimate claim to the throne – arguably a better claim than John – and he romped around English holdings in France during the initial years of John's reign. Rebellious barons would certainly have called for the overthrow of John in favor of Arthur. At one point in the film, there is a funeral. A funeral pyre is lit. Catholicism frowned on cremation, viewing it as a pagan practice.
Robin is not declared outlaw until the movie ends. We see him living a life of contentment somewhere in Sherwood Forest. Perhaps this is meant to setup a sequel that will be more in line with the traditional stories of Robin Hood.
Though written in jest, Mary Todd Lincoln: Warrior First Lady did come to pass a mere two years later in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
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