What2Expect: Robin Hood (2010)
Ridley Scott brought us Alien and Blade Runner. Brian Helgeland brought Man on Fire and Mystic River from the page to the screen. And Russell Crowe starred in A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, and 3:10 to Yuma. You would think that if these three joined forces, the result would be phenomenal, I mean Helgeland and Crowe worked together on L.A. Confidential, and Scott and Crowe teamed up to create the epic Gladiator. But their forthcoming collaboration, Robin Hood, looks less than stellar to me.
Three years ago when I first heard about this movie, I thought the idea was good. The plan was, as far as anyone on the outside could tell, to tell the story of Robin Hood as if he were some sort of double agent, by day he would be the dutiful Sheriff of Nottingham, just a guy doing his job. But in the shadows, he would be Robin Hood. The movie would be called “Nottingham”, and in it, Robin Hood would battle the excesses of the opulent government by working from the inside to bring it down. Originally, Russell Crowe was slated to play both Robin Hood and the Sheriff which would concur with that plot line. That looked like a good idea for a movie, it was something that I’ve never seen before. But then last February, the story broke that the film would be called simply Robin Hood, the lead character would no longer be the Sheriff, and that Crowe would no longer play the role of the sheriff, but only Robin Hood. Also Scott said that the plan was to give the sheriff a very minimal role, because he’s not the villain, instead the black hat goes on the entire country of France.
At that point I was confused and disappointed and stopped reading the news about new cast members and seemingly a half a dozen rewrites because I was sure that they had relied on their collective past successes and simply taken the easy route to making several million dollars. After all, people will line up to watch this film simply because of the star power. They lost the nerve to bravely do something unique and intelligent, wanting instead to simply sell tickets. After watching all the previews and featurettes and interviews, I can’t even muster enough excitement to put together a good prediction. I’m just expecting two hours of Gladiator in tights. It may be the best most expensive Robin Hood film yet… but it’s still the same old story we’ve seen dozens of times.
You can watch the trailer below if you’d like. Personally, I’m gonna pass on this one, and if I go see anything the week of its release, I’ll probably take my wife to see Letters to Juliet or Iron Man 2 for the second (or third) time. Predicted score: 63
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shallowfrozenwater
May 4th, 2010 at 10:20 am #
i don’t know, i just enjoy flicks like this if they create interesting characters. this Robin isn’t your typical Robin Hood at all. there isn’t the Crusades angle at all apparently and they’re spending all their time on the underdog angle. fighting against oppression is a tired story line but it still sells.
i agree that changing up the story line so that Robin is also the Sheriff would’ve been an interesting watch but i’m still going to see this and i still expect a better score for me than a 63.
lambs to lions just might turn into a new catch phrase just like Mel Gibson’s “they’ll never take our freedom” in Braveheart.
shallowfrozenwater´s last blog ..there’s just so much pain out there
Teresa
May 4th, 2010 at 1:00 pm #
As your wife, I just wanted to let you know, I have no desire to see Iron Man 2 or Letters to Juliet. Please try again. I love you.
Also, I am disappointed by the plot change as well; it would have been an excellent new approach to the same old story. Maybe you should write the screenplay.
Logan
May 4th, 2010 at 2:48 pm #
I hope you’re right. I really do. I enjoy Russell Crowe as an Actor and Ridley Scott can be groundbreaking and profound as a director (Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise). But he has gotten more and more formulaic. And this one, to me, just looks like there are too many voices guiding the story. There was no clear direction for the film from the beginning besides, “We want to make a new Robin Hood movie.” I will see it, just not on opening week and probably not in the theater. I have my expectations set low, hoping that I will be pleasantly surprised instead of justified in my prediction.
And I thought you said Letters to Juliet looked good. I should let you write the predictions and reviews for all the “girly movies.” There aren’t nearly enough female voices in the movie criticism business.
Ramsey
May 15th, 2010 at 12:42 pm #
I CAN NOT wait to see this movie.