Robin Hood (2010)

In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power.

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writers:

Brian Helgeland (screenplay), Brian Helgeland (story),

Stars:

Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow

1 win & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Russell Crowe	...	Robin Longstride
Cate Blanchett	...	Marion Loxley
Max von Sydow	...	Sir Walter Loxley
William Hurt	...	William Marshal
Mark Strong	...	Godfrey
Oscar Isaac	...	Prince John
Danny Huston	...	King Richard the Lionheart
Eileen Atkins	...	Eleanor of Aquitaine
Mark Addy	...	Friar Tuck
Matthew Macfadyen	...	Sheriff of Nottingham
Kevin Durand	...	Little John
Scott Grimes	...	Will Scarlet
Alan Doyle	...	Allan A'Dayle
Douglas Hodge	...	Sir Robert Loxley
Léa Seydoux	...	Isabella of Angoulême

Storyline

Birth of a legend. Following King Richard's death in France, archer Robin Longstride, along with Will Scarlett, Alan-a-Dale and Little John, returns to England. They encounter the dying Robert of Locksley, whose party was ambushed by treacherous Godfrey, who hopes to facilitate a French invasion of England. Robin promises the dying knight he will return his sword to his father Walter in Nottingham. Here Walter encourages him to impersonate the dead man to prevent his land being confiscated by the crown, and he finds himself with Marian, a ready-made wife. Hoping to stir baronial opposition to weak King John and allow an easy French take-over, Godfrey worms his way into the king's service as Earl Marshal of England and brutally invades towns under the pretext of collecting Royal taxes. Can Robin navigate the politics of barons, royals, traitors, and the French?

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Plot Keywords:

england | king | crown | archer | village | 

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Taglines:

The untold story behind the legend.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence including intense sequences of warfare, and some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Spain] Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English French

Release Date:

14 May 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nottingham

Filming Locations:

Angle, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£5,750,332 (UK) (14 May 2010)

Gross:

$105,219,735 (USA) (30 July 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Relativity Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min 131 min 156 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Opening film at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival in 2010.

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Goofs

When Robin and his men are on the ship from France to England, they are drinking out of glass goblets. Glass was very expensive, and would never have been used on a ship. Instead, they've have had pewter or wooden drinking vessels.

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Quotes

Eleanor of Aquitaine: Milking a dried udder get's you nothing but kicked off the milking stool!
Prince John: Mother, spare me your farmyard memories, you have none and I don't understand them.

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Crazy Credits

The first part of the end credits are in the same style as Ridley Scott's production company 'Scott Free Productions'.

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Connections

References A Beautiful Mind (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Row Me Bully Boys Row"
Written by Alan Doyle
Performed by Alan Doyle

User Reviews

A Very Dark And Different Take On A Familiar Story

This is not exactly Robin and his merry men, nor is this Errol Flynn swashbuckling and laughing his way through merry old England as he gets his jollies battling the sheriff of Nottingham. No, this particular take on the story of Robin Hood is very different - like none you've ever seen before. Even the historical setting is changed from what's usually offered. Here, rather than waiting out the evil regency of Prince John and his minions until King Richard returns from the Crusades, Richard is already dead. His death comes very early on in the movie in battle in France. John is the King of England in this movie, and rather than an unselfish "robbing the rich to give to the poor" type character, Robin (actually in this movie Robin Longstride, who finds himself impersonating Robert of Locksley and becomes known as "Robin of the Hood") is a more complex character. I wouldn't say exactly noble - especially in the beginning - and his battle is not so much for the poor as it's a battle for the "rights" of the English people, as he eventually takes on what seems to be the fight to get John to sign what I assume is Magna Carta, and at least temporarily has to ally himself with John to help lead the defence of England against a French invasion.

The different historical setting is a bit disorienting to be honest - especially at first - but it also gives a degree of unpredictability to what's going to happen, and once you get a sense of where you are, when you are and what the fight is about it's easy enough to understand what's going on. Russell Crowe did a commendable job, I thought, in this alternate portrayal of Robin, and Cate Blanchett was most certainly a different kind of Marion. She's not the Maid Marion of legend. She's tough, she's a fighter, she goes into battle with the French - although not leading the battle, there's almost a Joan of Arc quality to her (minus the voice of God.) I was quite taken with Oscar Isaac as King John. He took the part and made it real. John came across as I would expect him to from the historical record - shifty and conniving, untrustworthy, quite willing to make and break whatever alliances are necessary at any given moment to ensure his survival as King and sometimes quite befuddled by his responsibilities. Perhaps a weakness was the fact that there was no real focus on Robin's men. Really only Will Scarlett (played by Scott Grimes) and Friar Tuck (played by Mark Addy) were significant elements in the story, and even they weren't particularly important.

The sets and setting were good. This felt like I imagine England in the late 12th-early 13th centuries would have felt like. Rough, brutal, dirty. It worked for me. The battle scenes (and there are a lot of them) are very well done. Since the movie ends with the caption "And so the legend begins" one wonders if a sequel might be in the works, perhaps detailing the struggle leading up to the actually signing of Magna Carta? If so, I'd definitely watch it. This was quite good! (8/10)