ROBIN HOOD
3 out of 5 stars

‎"rise and rise again until lambs become lions." - unknown


you can't help but think of this as gladiator: the medieval version. (because IT IS.) russell crowe stars as the titular character robin hood, but keep in mind that this is a sort of a prequel to the legend we're all familiar with. you know, the one where robin hood is constantly outwitting the bad guys i.e. king john and the sheriff of nottingham! the whole "rob the rich, give back to the poor" scenario! well, that may be what robin hood's legend is known for, but this is not about that... :/

essentially, robin longstride BEFORE he was nicknamed robin of the hood is just an archer in king richard's army. he's not even an outlaw just yet... so when king richard is killed in the line of battle, robin and his merry men decide to bolt. little do they know, the king's crown ends up in their hands when they come across an ambush with dying robert loxley. (the french were trying to assassinate the king...too bad, he's already dead) so, robin is told by the dying sir loxley to return his sword to his father, and robin reluctantly does so. medieval identify theft comes into play, and robin longstride becomes robert loxley...

this is TOTALLY different from the kevin costner & jeremy irons version... that one focused more on robin and the sheriff, where this is more about the king of france (philip), the king of england (john), and the northern barons threatening to go against the crown for unfair taxes. as much as i LOVE mark strong, he totally steals the show from the other allstars! russell crowe just reprises as maximus...err, i mean general hood, cate blanchett makes a brilliant/strong-willed marion, and almost-unrecognizable matthew mcfayden (remember him from pillars of the earth?) barely gets any screen time! i'm sorry...but i want kevin costner robin hood version back! if i wanted to watch a historical drama, i would have just watched elizabeth... :P