Robin Hood (2010)

4/5 stars

The previews didn’t do a good job of showing where this movie fits into the Robin Hood story. This is a prequel to the Robin Hood legend, and I hope they carry through with a sequel with the same cast and director that shows some of the more well-known legends so that I don’t imagine Robin Hood and Marion as cartoon foxes (Robin Hood – 1973).

Prequels seem to be the new approach to these older legends and stories, there’s Robin Hood (2010), Alice in Wonderland (2010), and King Arthur (2004), with The Hobbit due out in 2012. Interestingly, the first three films turn the female leads into sword- or arrow- wielding warriors, or at least attempts to shed the delicate flower of femininity routine. King Arthur completely broke from the legends and turned Guinevere into a green forest warrior, something completely breaking from what little is known about society back then. Robin Hood does a much more convincing job of portraying English country nobility. Marion might well have been a step above a farm girl, out on her husband’s land tending horses and planting seeds.

The costumes and dialogue alone make this film fun to watch. The acting is, as expected, amazing; after all it’s Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchette, great duo. All the characters are well cast, but Kevin Durand as Little Jon and Mark Addy as Friar Tuck steal the show.