Forget everything you ever thought you knew about Robin Hood. Ridley Scott’s new retelling is fast, bold and furious. Robin (Russell Crowe) is an archer in King Richard’s (Danny Huston) army. During a battle against the French, Robin learns that King Richard has ‘died’ and saw this as his chance to escape.

On his way back to England, he chances across an ambush and Robin is entrusted with a sword by a dying Sir Robert Loxley (Douglas Hodge) and told to return it to its rightful owner. Robin then must pose as Loxley himself, returns the crown to Prince John (Oscar Isaac) and goes on to Nottingham to deliver the sword to Max von Sydow (Sir Walter Loxley), the dying Robert’s father. He then hatches a plan to provide for his daughter-in-law Marion (Cate Blanchett) and asks Robin to continue the deception. Unfortunately, this also means getting involved with the Loxley’s troubles which means over taxation by the town’s sheriff and attacks from King John’s emissary Godfrey.



Once again, Ridley Scott’s cinematography is outstanding and exactly what the viewer has come to expect from his work. But something just does not ring true. The slow-paced, yet interesting first half hour of the film sets the scene well. But from then onwards, it becomes a mish-mash of loose ends and glaring plot holes. The World War II styled beach invasion is visually stunning, but only for the historically gullible.

It was originally going to be part of the story that Robin Hood was going to be a villain, and the Sheriff of Nottingham was going to be the hero of the piece. Thankfully, this idea was quashed very early in production. But seemingly, and sadly, a lot of what we know of the actual history has been trampled over in order to move the plot along at a faster pace towards the middle of the film.

It is all based on myth and there is not a shred of historical truth to the story of Robin, the Hood of Sherwood Forest, so it is acceptable to use a little bit of artistic license when making an interesting story. And it is probably a far truer version than the all-singing, all-dancing portrayal by the likes of Errol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and parodied so effectively in the Shrek Movies. Leave your credibility at the door, sit back and enjoy a right, rollicking romp, but don’t expect it to be a history lesson.

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