Ridley Scott’s reinvention of Robin Hood, starring Russell Crowe as the man not in tights, has been criticised for mangling its history and removing the merriment.
The film, which will be released worldwide this week, has given the oft-told tale a new twist. Variety's reviewer, likening the film to Batman Begins, says Scott and screenwriter Brian Helgeland have "fashioned a fresh origin story for a well-known hero and excised all the material's potentially campy aspects in favour of a downbeat, detail-oriented realist approach".
It later describes the epic as "a joyless corrective to Robin Hood's prior screen adventures".
The Hollywood Reporter sums up the changes: "Crowe's iconic medieval hero wears no tights, shows little interest in redistribution of wealth, scarcely bothers with the Sheriff of Nottingham, fights alongside Maid - sorry, Lady Marion and all but forces King John to sign the Magna Carta.
"Its European history is so ludicrously mangled that one almost suspects Mel Brooks and Monty Python's Flying Circus lent a hand," it continues.
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/mov ... -un8i.html
Dennis Moore rides again?
Dennis Moore rides again?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Dennis Moore rides again?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Dennis Moore rides again?
I found it terrifically entertaining - it's surely not a perfect depiction of history, but it's ONLY A MOVIE.
The theme of championing liberty for regular folk, and preserving wealth to those whose hard labour created it, is woven throughout the movie.
I look forward to the sequel.
The theme of championing liberty for regular folk, and preserving wealth to those whose hard labour created it, is woven throughout the movie.
I look forward to the sequel.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
~ Carl Sagan
Re: Dennis Moore rides again?
I liked it too BSG, but I didn't see much standing up for the little guy (or robbing from the rich to give to the poor), more championing the rights of the nobility against idiotic royalty. Now granted the earl (or whatever) of Loxley did appear to be fairly benevolent, but I doubt all those who joined Robin's army were. Indeed, the charter the king signed (which appeared to be quite similar to the Magna Carta) only protected the rights of the nobility--the serfs who worked the field and the few tradesman remained in the same position (and probably counldn't care less if they were oppressed by a king or a duke or earl).
I think the Robin Hood of legend was much more a hero of the common people because he gave up his title and lands to provide and fight for them by attacking the evil nobility who were driving them intot he ground. He didn't fight for the nobility, he fought against them, making him the folk hero--a common man's king arthur of sorts. It will be interesting to see how the sequel plays out.
But as a movie, it was good entertainment, and one of Scott's better efforts. Characters were much more fleshed out than Scott usually does, and the fight scenes had an intimacy I haven't seen from Scott in a long time. The acting was adequate (and I've never been a Crowe fan) and the movie, though long, seemed a lot shorter than its running time. And those animated graphics at the end titles were interesting in and of themselves.
I think the Robin Hood of legend was much more a hero of the common people because he gave up his title and lands to provide and fight for them by attacking the evil nobility who were driving them intot he ground. He didn't fight for the nobility, he fought against them, making him the folk hero--a common man's king arthur of sorts. It will be interesting to see how the sequel plays out.
But as a movie, it was good entertainment, and one of Scott's better efforts. Characters were much more fleshed out than Scott usually does, and the fight scenes had an intimacy I haven't seen from Scott in a long time. The acting was adequate (and I've never been a Crowe fan) and the movie, though long, seemed a lot shorter than its running time. And those animated graphics at the end titles were interesting in and of themselves.
Re: Dennis Moore rides again?
While I agree that rallying the nobility in defence of King John and England was predicated upon John's promise to sign the charter Robin's father had supposedly crafted, when the King ultimately refused to sign and declared Robin an outlaw after Robin had defended him against the French invasion, the legend began - Robin ends up in the woods with Maid Marian and his merry band of outlaws - not rubbing elbows with nobles.
In the sequel I expect we'll see all the robbing from the rich and giving to the poor.
Of course all the historical stuff in the movie was presented with great liberty, though John had been pressured to sign something along the lines of the Magna Carta for several years before he ultimately acquiesced in 1215.
As to the other point; well, those who have, have the ability to bring pressure to bear on those who rule. The 'granting' of rights from a sovereign or a body politic has always started with those who have the means to access and enforce those rights - just as it first happened in the colonies. We women and people of color only recently won the right to vote, after all. Getting a fair share of the pie is, I think, an ageless battle of the human condition - so Robin Hood's legend will always ring true to many.
In the sequel I expect we'll see all the robbing from the rich and giving to the poor.
Of course all the historical stuff in the movie was presented with great liberty, though John had been pressured to sign something along the lines of the Magna Carta for several years before he ultimately acquiesced in 1215.
As to the other point; well, those who have, have the ability to bring pressure to bear on those who rule. The 'granting' of rights from a sovereign or a body politic has always started with those who have the means to access and enforce those rights - just as it first happened in the colonies. We women and people of color only recently won the right to vote, after all. Getting a fair share of the pie is, I think, an ageless battle of the human condition - so Robin Hood's legend will always ring true to many.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
~ Carl Sagan