Robin Hood

I went and watched Robin Hood the other day. The first Friday that it was playing in Singapore. I had to exercise great self restraint in not watching the sneak peak in the middle of the week (Wednesday). The reasons for watching the movie were pretty straight forward - Ridley Scott and Russel Crowe with Cate Blanchett thrown in for good measure. An Australian playing the legendary English robber again. Add to that the pre-movie hype about how Scott and Crowe got the script changed and that Crowe worked for four months on archery.

I went in expecting another Gladiator. And surprise surprise! I got it as well. All the scenes that ended up on the cutting floor last time around, found their way in here. Blake Edwards did that with the Pink Panther franchise, but the man had an excuse that time. Peter Sellers had pushed off to happier hunting grounds.

With this being the first movie of a (potential) series (all the indications are there, but hopefully not), Robin Hood suffers from a familiar malaise of the main folks involved setting out to deliver a summer blockbuster, taking out the book of hit-delivering cliches and using all bar none. The mistake they made is taking themselves too seriously. Ocean's 12 did the same, but with enough tongue in cheek to let everyone in on it. Robin Hood on the other hand, does not even become the famed bandit till the last frame, also the only one in which he seems the slightest bit merry. Messrs. Scott and Crowe said they wanted to stick to the real story. Well the true story apparently also included the fact that Robin Hood was, like dear Murphy, another man with the same name. But nevertheless a champion who set the basis of the Magna Carta for King John to sign. Also he was a common archer with exceptional handling of chargers and knight's armour, reading and writing (no mean feat for an orphaned stonemason's son in 12th century England, a time when lettered monarchs were not all too common), battle tactics and sword skills and finally the ideas and oratory to win over barons. Maybe the fact that he had all of these made him Robin Hood.
This of course is borne out by the fact that he added to his archer's wages by running a small punting operation. The man clearly was lucky. I went in expecting a movie's worth of entertainment and merriment, I got one guy playing himself and another helping him do it. At the very least he should have won the swordfight with the chief villain.