Reviews Film / Robin Hood 2010

Decent at first, but goes downhill near the end.

I really liked the first two-thirds of this movie. Rather than retelling the stereotypical Robin Hood story of a heroic bandit in green tights fighting against the evil Prince John, it presented a very different version of the story that had a very gritty, realistic feel to it. I thought that the idea that Robin was not really a dispossessed nobleman but a common soldier impersonating that nobleman was very interesting, and I also enjoyed watching the nobles scheme and plot against each other. The idea of Prince John not being a villain, but rather an incompetent ruler used as a tool by the nobles who grew into a genuinely good man was something else I liked.

Then the last hour or so of the movie screwed it all up. Robin was given additional backstory that really was not necessary for his character growth. That same backstory also detracted from John's character development, by making what was perhaps the historical John's most important achievement, the Magna Carta, something that he plagiarized from somebody else and that he refuses to sign. The best idea the writers had, that of Robin's Dead Person Impersonation, was tossed aside for the sake of a quick battle that seemed like it was mostly copied from Saving Private Ryan and Lord of the Rings. The shaky cam was so bad in some parts that I found it nearly impossible to follow the action, and on a movie theater screen it made me feel sick. The excellent build-up of the first two thirds felt wasted on this quite frankly terrible third act that felt ripped off from half a dozen other movies.

Overall, I would say don't see it in theaters. Wait until it comes out on DVD, and rent it to see if you like it or not.