Robin Hood is a story that is one of the most well known in history. It’s been made into movies dozens of times. This is a movie that didn’t need to be remade, but it was. And boy did they give it their best shot.

Russell Crowe does a pretty good Robin Hood. But this version is probably closer to the legend than many of the others. Crowe’s Robin of Loxley is not a cheeky smart aleck that jokes and puns his way through his whimsical adventures. He means business, and of course, the battles are a huge part of this story, and they are graphically and realistically portrayed. That’s probably the least favorite of my parts of the movie, but I have to give them credit for the way they are filmed.

This is the story of those who fought for freedom and liberty from greedy pseudo King John who assumed the throne while his brother Richard was off fighting in the crusades. In the beginning they tried to work with John and try to deal with him, but when it became clear that it was impossible, the decision to turn outlaw and steal back the taxes taken unfairly and give them back to the people. It’s a long movie, but I rate it highly if you’re into this type of story. Though there have been many previous versions that were very good, this one probably gets to the heart of the story really well.

I didn’t buy Cate Blanchett as Maid Marion, but by the same token, she probably really nailed the part. It’s just that she wasn’t the way I wanted her to be. But what do I know.

I didn’t love the film, but I liked it, and I respect the job they did and the technical beauty of the movie, so I rate it pretty high. It’s one of those that you probably want to see.

==Written by Ed Goettman ==

==From: Ed's Review Dot Com (www.edsreview.com)==

The origins of the Robin Hood legend have always been frustratingly inconclusive, with credit dished out to various 14th-and-15th-century balladeers and poets over the years. This lack of foundational definitiveness provides the basis for Ridley Scott’s epic version of the origin story. This "Robin Hood" does bear a passing resemblance to previous filmic entries on the famed outlaw, but while all the others have focused on Robin Hood’s liberal ideology and adrenaline-charged exploits, Scott’s film instead extracts a 150-minute narrative from the 10-minute setup that typically appears in other versions.

Here, Robin Hood (Russell Crowe) is Robin Longstride, an archer in King Richard’s (Danny Huston) army of Crusaders. As the story picks up, Richard and his soldiers pillage their way back to England, now but one stop away from a triumphant return. But Richard is slain in battle, and Robin Hood, along with his trusted companions Will Scarlet (Scott Grimes), Allan A’Dayle (Alan Doyle) and Little John (Kevin Durand), take their leave of the Crusades, continuing their return journey alone. After witnessing a French ambush led by the traitor Sir Godfrey (perennial villain Mark Strong), the quartet assumes the identities of the fallen Knights--including Robin as the revered knight Robert Loxley--and return home to deliver the crown of their fallen king.

From here, the story of this Robin Hood is one of assumed identities, political pontificating and Scott-style battle sequences, but with Maid Marion (Cate Blanchett) at the center. This is a most unfortunate choice, as her relationship with Robin is composed of nothing more than cheap romantic-comedy banter and sexual tension, topped off with an onslaught of sex jokes made by just about every character in the film. (When Marion appears at the center of the film’s climactic battle sequence, one of the film’s best features is overshadowed by the sheer ludicrousness of her presence and skill.) Both Blanchett and the film deserve much better.

Yet, as with nearly all Scott films, there's a bright side to be found here. The action sequences are often exhilarating, bolstered by an authenticity and subtlety that work well to subvert the peasant-as-savior vibe that creeps into the film throughout (why exactly would a group of barons in 14th-century England listen to a poor archer?). Scott’s reliable efforts to abstain from overly graphic or stylized violence are also a welcome reminder of old-school filmmaking in the growing age of CGI and 3D filmmaking. In fact, the movie is technically impressive overall, with quality camerawork and effects, and superlative editing throughout. More abstractly, Scott's leftist leanings, while overt, are not unwelcome in this story, nor are the substantial political discussions, which help to ground the film in some sort of realism.

Unfortunately, none of this is enough to make the film a complete success. Put simply, "Robin Hood" is a bit boring; put more complexly, the movie is an overindulgent convolution of multiple storylines, underdeveloped characters and long stretches of unnecessary exposition. It's dour, and punctuated by poor attempts at levity which muddle the film’s tone rather than elevate it. Crowe plays Robin with his trademark scowl and a veil of inscrutability that's more suggestive of apathy than guarded mystery or ambiguity. To make matters worse, the whole of "Robin Hood" is shrouded in grays, shadows and candlelight, cementing its status as a serious, moody retelling that eliminates most of the joy that has long made the legend such a crowd-pleaser.

==Written by Luke Gorham==

==From: In Review Online (www.inreviewonline.com)==

Cast aside all notions of men in tights: Ridley Scott's Robin Hood is decidedly earthier and more grown-up than most romps through Sherwood Forest. The presence of the over-40 Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett cinches the deal, lending a dose of worldliness to a project that means to be about the origins of the famous character, who in this incarnation was evidently a late bloomer. Robin Longstride (that's his name before he started wearing a hood) is just returned from a 10-year jaunt in the Crusades when he loses his king (Danny Huston as Richard the Lionheart) and his job. Back in England, Robin folds himself neatly into a Nottingham family, where a grieving widow named Marion (Blanchett) and her father-in-law (Max von Sydow) hardly care that he doesn't much resemble their own departed warrior. But the merry men and their famous sideline will have to wait: except for one bit of robbing from the rich (i.e., the greedy government of King John) and giving to the poor, this movie is more concerned with creating a portrait of the royal intrigue that went into creating Robin Hood than in detailing the high jinks of the Nottingham outlaws. And that's not a bad thing, because although Robin Hood lacks the mechanical action beats that distinguish most films of its scale, it creates an engrossing story line around its political chess playing (outlined by screenwriter Brian Helgeland and apparently a few others). Crowe is in reliable crusty-tender form and Blanchett summons up more than her sketchy character probably deserves, but the film has a large cast of chewy, fun performers: Mark Strong (Kick-Ass) does baddie duty as the treacherous pal of King John (preening Oscar Isaacs), William Hurt is stalwart and wise as a royal power broker, Eileen Atkins is a carefully considered royal mum, and Matthew Macfadyen is a Sheriff of Nottingham who's no longer central to the villainy--though no less hissable for his ineptitude (and a prime candidate at film's end for No. 1 bad guy in the sequel). In short, not a Gladiator re-do for Scott and Crowe, but a civilized tale of tyrants and rebels, staged in a pleasingly old-fashioned way. --Robert Horton