Starring: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett
Director: Ridley Scott (Gladiator, American Gangster)
Running Time: 2 hrs 20 min
Release Date: May 14, 2010
Budget: $200 million
Critics’ Thumbs Up: 51%
“…an intelligent, layered story…” Lawrence Toppman, Charlotte Observer
“…pompous, interminable hash.” David Edelstein, New York Magazine
“And so the legend begins,” is how this Robin Hood reimagining ends, but it’s too bad that isn’t where this film began. Billed as a prequel, this action drama focuses on a Robin Hood unfamiliar to moviegoers – one that has not yet begun stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Rather than providing an interesting, adventuresome backstory, however, this Robin Hood is burdened by a muddled, tedious plot line with too many shots of flying arrows and not enough sparks flying between Robin and Maid Marion (Blanchett). Crowe, in his fifth collaboration with Scott, and Blanchett both ordinarily give powerful performances, but the stiff material at hand doesn’t give them room to breathe.
