ROBIN HOOD - REVIEW

Some directors are great at one thing in particular. Some are very versatile. Scott thinks he belongs to the latter category when really he's part of the former. Ever since his sci-fi/fantasy days (Alien, Blade Runner, Legend) he has avoided those genres like the plague focusing instead on Russell Crowe-led bore-fests like A Good Year or, indeed, Robin Hood.

Which is not to say some of his ventures into the unknown haven't been successful: Gladiator, Thelma and Louise and Matchstick Men were all fine but Scott's original style got lost somewhere along the way and his films these days could have been done by pretty much anyone else comfortable with generic fare.

Robin Hood is by no means a terrible film it's just unnecessary. Do we care how Robin Hood became Robin Hood? Do we care about his inner turmoils? Do we need to see a boring, gritty, "realistic" Robin Hood prequel? Or do we want to see a good Robin Hood film with Robin happilly pissing off the dastardly Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham? Those are all rhetorical questions.

What we get instead is Russell Crowe doing a rubbish accent, giving a dull performance which he could have applied to just about any other character (and which he does) and bringing absolutely nothing to a fun, clever character worthy of a fun and lively performance. The look of the film is grey, lifeless and uninteresting, the storytelling is unimaginative and essentially a copy/paste retread of Gladiator and Cate Blanchett, although her performance is good enough, just doesn't feel right for the part. The chemistry between her and Crowe is simply inexistant. One good thing the film has to offer is vilains, all of them show great potential but it all falls flat when their adversary is so lame you don't even care about the conflicts involved. Max Von Sydow is also excellent and adds some heart to an otherwise cold and passionless film.

You'll have to probably wait for the next instalment (the last set-up scene is a kick in the balls) or for Errol Flynn to come back from the dead to get a proper Robin Hood film I'm afraid because this just isn't it. It's watchable but you'll be looking at your watch a hell of a lot.