Movie Review: Robin Hood

[jpskewedthrone]

So, pbray and I went off to see Robin Hood this afternoon. We'd heard some rumbling about the movie, mostly some negative reactions. I try not to listen or see anything ahead of time when I KNOW I'm going to go see the movie, so I mostly ignored these, and I didn't see any of the trailers (because in the past, the trailers have had a tendency to completely spoil the movie for me). But I admit that I'd heard enough to go into the movie with some trepidation.

And I have to say that the movie was good. It was better than good, verging on great. I loved the "historical" feel to it, even though I seriously doubt there was a whole lot of historically correct activity going on in the movie. I'm not an expert (or even mildly versed) in this time period, so if there were any inaccuracies they blew completely over my head. Once the movie started, and I realized that this was going to be as realistic as possible, without all of the frills of a "Disney" version of Robin Hood, I really got into the movie.

And that's what I think everyone nees to realize about this movie. This is not a "Disney" version. It's not a fairy tale. There isn't any glossing over of the way life was lived back then to make everyone feel good about life. No one in the movie was romanticized. Everyone had both good and bad sides to them. No one really did anything just for the sake of it being the "noble" thing to do. And you know what? I loved this. These were people, doing what they did to survive and to make their own lives better in the long run.

However, the MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU NEED TO KNOW about the movie before you go see it, aside from the fact that this is not the "Disney" version of Robin Hood that we've been fed for ages, is that this movie is about HOW ROBIN HOOD BECAME AN OUTLAW. In most movies, including the Kevin Costner one, we get how Robin Hood became an outlaw in the first half of the movie, and then there is outlawry fun for the rest of the movie. THIS IS NOT THAT MOVIE. The entire movie is how Robin Hood became Robin Hood. It ENDS with Robin Hood being outlawed and ending up in the forest, with all of the old familiar friends. And I found this genesis of Robin Hood very interesting. This may be because it dealt with a lot of politics and manipulations by quite a few people, and I love this kind of thing in the books I read and the movies I watch.

In the end, how and why people acted the way they did, and how Robin ended up where he did, made sense. It wasn't because of any altruistic need to help the poor, although that was an outcome. This realistic approach to the legend appealed to me. Just as the adventurous side of me still loves the Kevin Costner version as well. (Let's not talk about Mel Brooks' version.) There was adventure in this version, lots of battles and fights and general, all-around fun, but it was realistic.

There was only one thing that made me wince and say WHY, WHY, WHY?!?! And that was toward the very end. All of the actors did splendid jobs depicting their characters, especially Cate Blanchett as Marion. However SOMEONE (the writer, the director, who knows) decided that Marion needed to be at the battle at the end, in a full suit of armor. There was absolutely no need for this regarding plot, or characterization, or anything. No reason at all. They should have just had Marion stay back in Nottingham. She'd already well established that she was a strong woman and someone everyone could respect, so showing up for the battle in armor--overkill.

But that aside, I thought it was a good movie. Definitely something I'd suggest people go see, as long as they don't go into the movie expecting the standard story. Go in with the idea that this will explain how Robin got into the Hood . . . I mean forest.

Comments

[anghara.livejournal.com]

SOMEONE (the writer, the director, who knows) decided that Marion needed to be at the battle at the end, in a full suit of armor. There was absolutely no need for this regarding plot, or characterization, or anything. No reason at all.


What I've come to call the Arwen Syndrome. It doesn't matter at all that there's no benefit - that there may even be detriment - in sticking a "strong female character" in there somewhere, even where she isn't needed, wanted, or remotely fits in. But it's the "O noez we haz no wimmin so the wimmin will be mad at us" syndrome.

I'd love to be able to somehow stuff into overzealous directors' heads that stuffing an arbitrary woman into a situation totally wrong for her so that she can be seen to have been stuffed there =/= feminist brownie points. In fact, quite the opposite...

As far as the rest of the movie is concerned, I somehow think I'll be giving it a miss. There are a lot of things that I'll overlook, but I read in a review somewhere that the Robin Hood character is on the way back from the Crusades... where King Richard was killed.

OY. Historical HOWLER.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

King Richard wasn't killed in the Crusades in the movie. He was killed while attacking a castle in France, almost home from the Crusades. He was pillaging France on his way home. I'm not saying this is necessarily any more accurate than what actually happened historically (because I have no clue), but just in case that makes a difference.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Richard was killed by a crossbowman while attacking a castle in France, though he died from gangrene in the wound, not immediately as in the movie.

[romsfuulynn.livejournal.com]

Actually, Richard being shot by a guy with a fryingpan in his other hand is not wildly inaccurate.

[1hope1dream.livejournal.com]

I was going to see that last night, but we went to Alice in Wonderland instead since we weren't wanting to hang out at the movie theater for 2+ hours waiting for the next showing of Robin Hood to start. I think maybe next time I go to the movies I'll go see that one. It sounds fascinating and, well, I want to see how historically accurate (or inaccurate) they get things.

*cough history fanatic cough*
*grin*

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Alice in Wonderland was also fun, although definitely oriented toward the much younger audience. You'll have to let me know how historically inaccurate Robin Hood actually is. I'd be curious to know.

[bcwalker.livejournal.com]

Given that Scott, Glazer, Crowe and Blanchet are all featured in the accompanying documentary on RH playing on History this week (and, in all likelihood, made concurrently with the film) any deviations from historical fact and acknowledged myth are going to be deliberate.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

From various comments/blog posts and my own viewing of the trailers on TV, being a former SCA member, I can safely say there are very little historically accurate parts in it.


Hollywood creative licensing in full effect with this one.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

I didn't figure it was all that historically accurate. It's like my father watching Top Gun ages past: he was a fighter pilot and laughed at nearly the entire movie.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

LOL, I can why he would.}:P

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Ironically, the bit with Marian dressing up as a man and fighting is one of the things out of the actual Robin Hood ballads, only in the ballad she dressed up as a yeoman and battled Robin in the forest (and beat him, just like everybody beat him. At some point I figured everyone in the forest would figure out that they could all kick his butt, and take over.).

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

This particular scene just didn't ring true at all though. It felt . . . frivolous. I'm all for Marian kicking ass, but this didn't quite work.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree. I didn't buy it in the ballad, either.

[a-r-williams.livejournal.com]

You're view of the movie actually makes me interested in seeing it. I don't think there are too many Robin Hood movies that I've liked, so I had no plans of seeing this one.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

You'll have to let me know if you agree with my review or not after you've seen it.

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

I have to agree - Marion's arrival on the battlefield was a WTF? moment.

Her actions in the village proved her strength. If more proof was needed, I'd have had her follow Robin out when he ambushed the grain shipment. That would have been in character for her not trusting the man.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Exactly. But she couldn't have followed Robin for the taking of the grain shipment. That would have ruined the surprise! *grin*

[maeve-the-red.livejournal.com]

Being English I have rather a low tolerance for Hollywood's attempts to re-tell the Robin Hood legend - I'm not particularly precious or knowledgeable about the bloke, but US writers' total failure to research, say, the geography of Britain does get my goat.

I haven't seen this latest shindig yet (possibly I never will), but I just thought you might like to know about Mr Crowe's publicity snafu while he was pimping himself over this side of the pond. When appearing on a top arts program he took exception to the presenter commenting on his accent and stormed off. Said presenter comes from Yorkshire which, for those not acquainted with limy geography, is the county next to Nottinghamshire.