Rip-roaring righteousness
‘Robin Hood’ offers plenty of action — and inspiration for our times
By Lisa Miller 05/13/2010
Galloping into theaters with a timeless story that has been shot at least a dozen times before, yet laden with undercurrents that seem as fresh as today’s headlines, director Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood” revives his collaboration with leading man Russell Crowe after their Oscar-winning teaming in “Gladiator” and hit follow-up “American Gangster.” The result of letting these two do what they do best — bring ancient history to action-packed life — results in a spectacle that will entertain audiences throughout the summer.
Writer Brian Helgeland (“L.A. Confidential,” Crowe’s first hit, and Clint Eastwood’s “Mystic River”) builds on his reputation as one of Hollywood’s best screenwriters with a complex script that sets up the origin of Robin Hood rather than diving right into the heart of
his main conflicts with the Sheriff of Nottingham and the corrupt English king. Rather, Crowe and Scott kick things off with a gritty and realistic vision of the hellish battles that Robin had to endure against the French while coming home from the Crusades in the Middle East, only to find that his leader, King Richard the Lionheart, has been slain in battle.
The death of King Richard provides Robin and a few others the chance to escape severe punishment for being a little too honest with the king about his dim prospects for success against the French, and whether the Crusades were worth the loss of the lives involved. As they escape their shackles and plunge into the woods beyond the battlefield, Robin and his followers witness a band of fellow soldiers being massacred by some French soldiers led by the conniving traitor Godfrey (Mark Strong in a richly sneering yet realistic performance).
Robin and his men find the King’s horse and crown and then dress in the armor of his dead knights, assuming their identities in order to sneak onto a boat back to England in order to hide out and live on the dead soldiers’ gold. They have to return the crown of the deceased king, however, to enable the ascension of Richard’s utterly corrupt younger brother, Prince John (Oscar Isaac), to the throne.
When Robin publicly claims the name of the knight he’s disguised as — Robert Loxley — the new King John and Godfrey become suspicious, setting off a chain of complex double-crosses and revenge gambits that ultimately pay off in explosive battle sequences and a well-drawn romance with the real Robert’s widow Marian (Cate Blanchett, in a nice role reversal from her prior portrayals of Queen Elizabeth I in two films).
“Robin Hood” is epic in every sense — from the sweeping score by Marc Streitenfeld to the vibrant cinematography of John Mathieson to the sheer intensity of seeing hundreds of soldiers on horseback launching literally thousands of arrows into the sky at once. The film makes you feel the corrupt grandeur of royalty and the gritty realism of battles and medieval villages, immersing the viewer in the action on a scale rarely seen or felt anymore.
It would have been easy to just be a fun, simple-minded action movie, like Kevin Costner’s 1991 “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.” But Helgeland, Scott and Crowe demand more of themselves and their audiences. Viewers who pay close attention will see parallels to modern American society’s current battles over how much government is too much, squabbles over taxes and emboldened cries for liberty and the right to regard one’s home as his castle.
The end result is not just summer entertainment, but empowering inspiration for everyone who wants their nation to do better.
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