Director Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe reunite in what appeared to an attempt to put Gladiator in Sherwood Forest. Unfortunately, for the most part, they pretty much fail. Nowhere does Hood approach Gladiator's magnificence.
Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of good stuff in Hood. It's a beautiful movie, shot with very little CGI thank god, instead relying on the real beauty of the English countryside. It's an immersive film and successfully pulls the viewer into the forest and farms and folk of the period. And Crowe is still very good, doing his roguish tough guy who would die for his men thing. Cate Blanchett is also fine as Marion, except for the final scenes which we'll deal with momentarily. The film's first half hour is promising, before we get to Nottingham where things gradually crumble. But no one, not even Ridley Scott, can overcome a diffuse and fragmented script.
Okay, big problem 1: this isn't the Robin Hood you're expecting. It's the pre Robin Hood Robin Hood. We start at the end of the crusades, not in Sherwood Forest, then go through the beginnings of an English civil war and end with a reunited england repelling a French attempt to take over a divided country. Taking a different angle on a classic story doesn't have to be a problem, but when the filmmakers attempt to redo the story of an icon, you'd better do it really well. And be really clear who is doing what This leads us to big problem 2: Character confusion. The Sheriff of Nottingham is a very minor character and we're constantly confused what side he is on. There's also a Marshall, so we have a Marshall and a Sheriff in the wild west of england. As it turns out, the Sheriff is more of a plot distraction than anything and probably should have been completely edited out. Problem 3: Way and I mean, way too many subplots. Did I mention there are too many subplots? I can count 5 and then I get a headache. There's more like 8. Problem 4: Crowe fires his bow about four times and none of them are critical to the plot. So we not only have a Hood that's different than what we expect, the filmmakers choose to take the iconic weapon of an iconic character out of his hands.
So, to summarize, the plot and characters are a fragmented mess. But that's not the worst thing. It's the final battle. France, believing England to be in civil war, lands an invasion force. Robin Hood and king John and a bevy of barons find out about it and are there waiting. It's a very generic battle that unfortunately wallows toward the ludicrous when 93 pound Cate Blancett charges in on horseback, the lady in full chainmail, mind you, waving a twenty-five pound broadsword. Worse still she's leading a squad of orphaned forest children, who are, I kid you not, on ponys that are small enough to be miniature horses. She quickly gets her ass kicked so it appears Ridley realized how stupid the whole idea was. Why was she even there? Was Gloria Aldbright in the wings threatening woman's civil right action if Marion didn't have a battle scene? It's absurd.
Robin Hood ends with King John declaring Robin, who along with the bevy of Barons, demand civil rights, an OUTLLAAWWW! It's one of the highlights of the film. Err, it's where the film should have begun.
rating
Presentation: 31
Plot: 21
Character: 25
Total: 77
