Russel Crowe and Ridley Scott back together again, and in another film that looks and feels a lot like Gladiator. And it is well played and looks great, but the editing and story are lacking. Honestly this feels like Scott knew he would be doing another of his greatly extended director’s cuts on DVD and blu-ray and so just thought it was OK to cut directly for time here, leaving some characters, and plot points here only as the barest bones suggestions, and seemingly hugely out of place. Even the battle sequences seem to be missing a great deal of material, and seem to jump from place to place without any bridging material. What is here is decent enough, it just doesn’t tie together well enough, and one element of the end is pretty much laughable and completely out of place. I like the idea of an origin story for Robin Hood, and making him not actually the noble he is always portrayed to be, but I wanted more on his friends, and more depth to the elements introduced. I would probably wait on this until the extended edition which will surely make more sense, and other than that skip it unless you are a huge fan.

Richard the Lionheart (Danny Huston) is on Third Crusade, and has been mostly unsuccessful, for finance or any gain and is on his way back to England, pillaging Europe on the way. He goes amongst his troops to find an honest one and see what their opinion is of him and this crusade. An archer named Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe) along with his friends Alan A’Dale (Alan Doyle) and Will Scarlet (Scott Grimes) end up in a fight over a game of chance Robin has been winning. The fighter is Little John (Kevin Durand), but Robin is proved to have been honest, and the King reveals himself and asks Robin his opinion. Robin truthfully answers that they lost God’s grace when they slaughtered women and children, and he and his friends are locked in stocks. In battle shortly thereafter the king is killed, and a friend of theirs releases them, and they go off on their own, Robin realizing with a dead king their is no chance of ever getting paid. Richard’s right hand, Sir Robert Loxley (Douglas Hodge) is dispatched to bring word and the King’s crown back to England, but he and his men are attacked and slaughtered by the English traitor Sir Godfrey (Mark Strong) who is working for the French. Robin and his men see this, and attack, and drive the French off, scarring Gofrey’s face. Loxley gets Robin to swear to return his sword to his father before he dies. He and his men dress as knights, and take the crown to the English ship and return to England. Robin pretends to be Loxley and hands the crown to Richard’s younger brother John (Oscar Issac). Robin and his men head for Nottingham. John becomes king, divorcing his wife and marrying the French King’s niece Isabella of Angouleme (Léa Seydoux who is a little hottie) and firing Sir William Marshal (WIlliam Hurt) and sidelining his mother Eleanor of Auitane (Eileen Atkins). And Sir Godfrey is given all the power in the realm.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Things aren’t good in Nottingham. Their are roving gangs of young boys stealing the grain, since their fathers have been gone for so long in the crusades. And their is not enough grain to pay taxes to the state, though the Church has grain. A new Friar named Tuck (Mark Addy) takes over and is kinder, but he cannot stop the grain from going.

Robin splits the money and goods with his friends, but they follow him to Nottingham. Robin meets Loxley’s widow Lady Marion (Cate Blanchett) and is taken to her father Sir Walter (Max von Sydow). Sir Walter takes a liking to Robin, and proposes a deal, as Marion cannot inherit his land, and he is old and blind, so he wants Robin to pose as his son and Marion’s wife, so she can keep the land.

Robin goes with his men and Tuck and steals back the grain en route, and plants it during the night.

Godfrey is meanwhile stirring up unrest with the nobles, and has enlisted French Soldiers to go and take land and money from people who have not paid all their exorbitant taxes, and killing everyone. And they are headed for Nottingham.

Sir Walter tells Robin of his past. His father was a stone mason who wrote a decree about all people being equal, and was killed in front of Robin as a kid.

Sir Walter sends Robin to meet with William Marshall and the other nobles, to go against Godfrey and his frenchmen, and they get the King to go back on his word, and back the nobles against Godfrey. Their is word of the attack on Nottingham.

Godfrey is rounding up everyone and locks then in a barn and burns in, but Robin and his men come in, and the lost boys help as well, and most are able to escape, and many of the French are killed, though Godfrey escapes. Sir Walter was killed though.

The French are set to invade, and are landing near some cliffs, and Robin and the nobles go to attack. Robin sets up archers on the cliff, and then joins the cavalry as they go down to attack.

Marrion arrives in armor with the lost boys (WTF?!?!?!) and joins in battle, and is almost killed by Godfrey, but is just saved by Robin, who also kills Godfrey.

The French surrender to Robin and not to King John, so instead of declaring Robin a hero, and signing the Charter of the Forest to make all people equal, he burns the charter and declares Robin an outlaw.

Robin moves into the forrest of Sherwood with Lady Marion, his friends and the lost boys, making the merry men.

••••

An OK film with some major faults. It either needs more story, or there just wasn’t enough. It seems like they tried to do a reboot thing like so many other movies have done, and almost go it, but just didn’t quite pull it off, which made the film suffer badly.