Saw this yesterday. Worth a rental. This is pretty much Robin Hood Begins. If they decide to make another one it'll probably be called The Dark Hood (rolls eyes). My guess is they made this so people go oh so that's how this all started.
The Bad: Way too long but at the time the pace was too fast. The scenes couldn't breathe and left really no room for the characters to interact.
Crowe and Cate are a little old for this
Focused on Robin Hood the cypher rather than the man
For a movie called Robin Hood, this nigga barely shoots arrows. He only does really cool shit 3 times in the film with the bow and arrows.
Too many antagonists for this film to handle.
The title cards killed me. Especially the last One "And, so the legend begins..."
The orphans that run around in Sherwood Forest are there to set up a possible sequel.
The Good: The score is one of the best I've heard in a minute.
The end credits were really fucking entertaining. Better than the film itself.
Scott and his DP make this look pretty at times
The Okay: Acting was good for what it was.
The story has too much fucking going on. And yes it's a prequel.
The fights scenes were cool...I guess...we've seen it before...
1. "Agreed on all counts. (***spoilers***)" In response to Reply # 0
Although I think Crowe and Blanchett had some decent chemistry, and I'm glad there wasn't the obligatory corny sex scene.
Also, Old Man Loxley was fun to watch and King John elicited some chuckles from me with his bravado.
I do still have hopes for the sequel. This wasn't bad, it just didn't have a real payoff. When Godfrey got shish kebabbed, it didn't really feel like a victory for Robin Hood, but more so for the English Crown. So if the next part features a good villain and a story focused on Robin Hood being a guerrilla pain in the ass to him, I think it might be more entertaining.
___________________ "So this is what everybody's always talking about! Diablo! If only I'd known. The beauty! The beauty!"
7. "Problem is this movie had a troubled history" In response to Reply # 5
1st it was called "Nottingham" where Robin was the bad guy and the Sheriff was the good guy. That got scrapped.
2nd time The Sheriff and Robin Hood where to be both played by Crowe.
3rd Had the Sheiff becoming Robin Hood
4th had the sheriff of Nottingham as a CSI-style forensics investigator". Scott elaborated the script, portraying the Sheriff of Nottingham as being Richard the Lionheart's right-hand man, who returns to England to serve Prince John after Richard's assassination. Though Scott felt John "was actually pretty smart, he got a bad rap because he introduced taxation so he's the bad guy in this", and the Sheriff would have been torn between the "two wrongs" of a corrupt king and an outlaw inciting anarchy.
This is the one they finally decided to make unfortunately for us.
BTW it's there 5th collab., but who the fucks counting?
11. "That's not exactly right." In response to Reply # 7
The first version, Nottingham, was the one that they said was like a CSI show and had The Sheriff as the good guy. Crowe and Scott both have said that they hated the script.
2 and 3 are the same. The original rumor was that Crowe was playing both but it was a mix up. He "played both" because Robin Hood becomes the Sheriff for a moment in the script. It's not like Crowe was ever scheduled to play two different roles.
Then they brought in Paul Webb, a British playwright, and basically did nothing with his version.
Helgeland came back and mashed together/rewrote the scripts and we got what was on the screen.
In the end, the film feels like a rush job. The ending was very disappointing and rushed.
8. "RE: nigga, title cards? Like, introductory ones? Is this fucking 1938?" In response to Reply # 6
They were at the beginning and end. They were too many at the beginning. Once you give a title card setting up the universe there should be no more.It gets sloppy when you gotta use it to introduce characters too.
10. "It was an origin film that rushed through the actual origin." In response to Reply # 0
You basically have a ton of stuff setting up the moment of him becoming an outlaw... and then they blow through his becoming an outlaw in a manner that isn't interesting, dramatic, and doesn't really make sense. If the barons were ready to revolt before, why would they not now?
The weirdest part was the make out session in the middle of the battle. Not only is it weird to see people kissing while people are fighting but Marian was dressed as a man; I can only imagine what the other guys thought when they looked over and saw Robin making out with what appeared to be a dude.
The beginning was better than I thought. The middle was OK. And the end was very disappointing. They were setting up for a sequel that I doubt will ever be made.
12. "read the shooting script..HATED IT *spoilerish*" In response to Reply # 0
I love Cate Blanchett, but how you gon make her Maid Marian, the strongest bitch in the land basically, give her a sword and have her battle hard like the fellas, THEN have her be saved by her man? the fuck is THAT all about?!?!?!?!?!?!
Based on what I read, I was NOT going to pay to see this...and i'm clearly right.
13. "The final fight was meh but her part was especially bad." In response to Reply # 12
She rolls in their with a bunch of kids? The fuck where they going to do? They start making out mid-battle?
And the whole thing with the boats coming together was really poorly done. It built up no real tension and it was like, ok they came together... and there's Robin back from it. Was I supposed to be nervous or something?
18. "I enjoyed it and found it interesting." In response to Reply # 0
The action sequences did not interest me at all as much as the story behind Robin Hood's origin. The movie could have easily been longer and more developed but they did their best.
cate blanchett was great as always ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
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