Its 12th Century England, and the film’s 140 minutes fly by in this visual stunner directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe. Don’t expect the legend of Robin Hood that you’ve come to know. It’s not Gladiator in Sherwood Forest either. Instead, this “Robin of the Hood” a.k.a. Robin Longstride is the prequel of what will be the Errol Flynn or Kevin Costner version you’ve come to know. Apparently, long before there were his merry men and even longer before there was a Sheriff of Nottingham, heck, even before there was a Maid Marion (Cate Blanchett) because this one puts on a suit of armor and fights beside him; this Hood doesn’t steal from the rich to give to the poor…he’s fighting taxes and property disputes. When the story opens, he’s part of King Richard the Lionheart’s (Danny Huston’s) army. But when the King is killed in a last for-the-hell-of-it French Crusade battle before returning home to England, Hood takes it upon himself to return his crown to the royal family. Upon the death of the King, his brother, Prince John (Oscar Isaac) assumes the throne. But what Prince John really needs is a good slappp, as he’s spends most of his time either sexing it up with the French King’s niece or mouthing off in hissy-fits like a spoiled American Hilton heir. In addition to this storyline, Hood also takes it upon himself to listen to a dying man’s wish and return his sword to his father, Sir Walter Loxley (Max Von Sydow) of Nottingham, who happens to be Lady Marion’s father-in-law. After some flirtatious back and forth banter between Crowe and Blanchett, you know they’re eventually doomed for the bed chamber. While it’s often hard to understand Crowe’s mumbling in Northern English accent, he still commands a screen as a man’s man and a lady’s man, and the all-around kind of guy you’d want on your team if a battle were to unexpectedly strike. He’s shy when needed and sexy when wanted, and overall Robin Hood will give Ironman a run for his money this summer. But then again, could you expect anything less from the master screenwriter Brian L A Confidential Helgeland? In the end, you realize this isn’t a movie about arrows, woods and mud, but about the bond between father and son, and their strong loyalty to the land. Three and a half tiaras
