Robin Hood

"When law oppresses the people, the outlaw takes his place in history."

For some time now, I’ve viewed Ridley Scott as the consummate Hollywood entertainer — the directorial equivalent of Bob Hope or Johnny Carson. His films are not all equally good (though some, like Body of Lies and Kingdom of Heaven, have been very good indeed), but they are almost equally competent, professional, and smoothly enjoyable: if there’s anyone you can count on for two-plus hours of solid entertainment without airs, it’s Scott. This sort of confidence in a filmmaker is uncommon. If nothing else, when I head into a Ridley Scott film, I know I’m in good hands.

The most prominent complaint about Robin Hood, Scott’s fourth consecutive collaboration with Russell Crowe (leading to a brilliant The Onion piece about Scott trading Crowe to Tim Burton for Johnny Depp), is that it’s grim and unfamiliar, with no sign of the dashing swashbuckler frolicking in Sherwood Forest with Maid Marian and his Merry Men. They’re right, as far as it goes: the movie is a sort of origin story with pretensions to historical verisimilitude (if not accuracy). Robin himself is an expert archer and swordsman, played with typical taciturn menace by Crowe; think Gladiator with a bit less fire in the belly. Maid Marian is a stern widow who treats Robin’s arrival in Nottingham as an annoyance. The story is light on the raids and redistribution of wealth, and heavy on cruel tyrants, wicked plots by viziers, and attempts to overthrow the monarchy. The movie ends with the title card “and so the legend begins,” suggesting that we had just watched a prequel.

I gather that many people got off the bus at this point, not really interested in seeing the classic story turned into a generic period actioner. But that seems a bit churlish, especially since at least an hour of Robin Hood is exactly the sort of sturdy, energetic pseudo-historical epic that Scott can deliver in his sleep. It may not be true to the spirit of the legend, but what the hell: I like potboilers about cruel tyrants, wicked plots by viziers, and attempts to overthrow the monarchy. This is especially true when said potboilers are executed with as much effortless, no-nonsense competence as this one is, at least for a while.

The cast alone is a joy: watch William Hurt as Richard the Lionhearted’s trusted advisor, being unceremoniously dismissed by Richard’s petulant heir (Oscar Isaac). Hurt’s calm dignity and Scott’s deliberate rhythm turn what could have been a throwaway scene into something that’s a lot of fun, and even kind of moving. Much the same is true of the scenes between Robin and Marian, played with a pitch-perfect combination of haughtiness and toughness by Cate Blanchett. When she threatens to stick him with a dagger if he tries to make a pass, she damn well means it.

The problems start around the halfway mark, when the movie seems to realize that it still has a lot of ground to cover, and takes off at an unseemly gallop. The climactic scenes are almost absurdly hurried: Robin reclaims Nottingham’s grain from soma scurrilous Church officials (there’s your Sherwood Forest raid), hightails it to the coast, makes a rather perfunctory speech immediately after a visit to his father’s grave, and then takes on the French army in a long (and, it must be said, masterful) battle scene. Before we know it, “the legend begins,” the lights come up, and I sat there blinking incredulously. What happened to the comfortable, meticulous flow of Robin Hood‘s first half?

The blame probably lies with the screenplay by Brian Helgeland, who didn’t know how to tie up all the loose ends he introduced. (I generally quite like Helgeland’s work, which includes such terrific pop filmmaking as A Knight’s Tale and Man on Fire.) Robin Hood still has Ridley Scott’s trademark veneer of cool professionalism, and it’s still plenty entertaining (I never looked at my watch). But this time, there are some chinks in the armor. Maybe the movie and the legend should have began at the same time.

-- Eugene Novikov

Released:	2010
Starring:	Oscar Isaac, Mark Strong, Eileen Atkins, Danny Huston, Max von Sydow, Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, William Hurt
Directed by:	Ridley Scott
Rated:	PG-13