Robin Hood (2010)

Director Ridley Scott's 2010 version of 'Robin Hood' is an attempt to give the classic character a gritty origin story, even though he and "maid" Marian are now middle aged (Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett respectively). It is also a story of family sanctioned identity theft. The interminable first hour is a plodding mess, our Robin doesn't even make it to Nottingham until around the movies 2/5ths mark. The film has a strong cast including Danny Huston, William Hurt and Max von Sydow, as well as pre-stars Oscar Isaac and Léa Seydoux. There is something to be said for the appeal of a revisionist take on the legend, but this version drains much of the fun from the characters in the same way that the bleached cinematography drains much of the color from the film itself. There are some points of merit, like Robin's stirring Braveheart-esque speech, or his blind father, but there is also weirdness like the lost boys of the forest, a new chief villain Francophile villian, and the ridicules end fight/ character reunion at the reverse D-Day invasion. Then at the end our leads go off into the woods to live as communists and a sequel is batted that never comes. This simply did not work for me. *1/2