Jason KingRobin Hood (7/10)
May 12th 2010 20:09
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I love you Cate :)
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Robin Hood (7/10)
Hey people, I had the pleasure of attending the first screening of Robin Hood in Australia last night and boy oh boy it was a popular affair. Hosted at George St Cinemas this event was packed pretty much packed to the rafters. Before I get on to the film itself I just want to mention that the way the event was handled by Event Cinemas was not impressive. There were no queues set up for the 300 or 400 or so people that were asked to get there half an hour early to sign in their mobile phones. This was all handled ok but then everyone hung around the entrance to the cinema wanting to get in to find out there was still a film in session. When the movie ended we had to contend with a security guard telling me and 100s of people, some in their 60's to "get out of the way" - not nice at all. Then when it was all cleaned they had the option to open four doors to let everyone in and they opened one - it was a horrendous experience waiting for an accident to occur. Maybe next time some organised queuing would be in order. Another issue I have with the cinema we were in - I think it was CIN 1 - is that the projector is so high up and far back in the projection booth that about 20cm of the film actually plays on what looks like an air-conditioning vent on the roof about 10ft back from the screen so this annoyed the crap out of me through the whole film.
HOWEVER, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of the film itself and the presentation was well done. This would be Ridley Scott (Director) and Russell Crowe's seven thousandth collaboration on film after Scott turned Crowe into a household name following the humungous success of Gladiator. What most people expected from this film was Gladiator 2 with bows and arrows. It was quite a different experience and one that I think may either impress a lot of people or disappoint a lot of people. It is not the story of Robin Hood and his merry men that we are used to - it is more of a prequel of the story of Robin Hood aka Robin Longstride. In this it starts long before the legend of Robin Hood where Robin Longstride is an archer in the army of Richard Coeur de Lion who fights the Norman invaders and how he becomes the legend of Robin Hood.
In my opinion Russ is back, he is perfect in this role and it is subtler than the popcorn fuelled action of Gladiator. It has some great action scenes but this film will also appeal to senior citizens, as it is also a romance and dramatic character film. A bit of trivia - Crowe is the oldest actor to ever play Robin Hood - Sean Connery was 44 when he played him in Robin and Marian in 1976 and the big Russ is a mere 45 now. There are some great performances and this film was always going to be enjoyable for me as Cate Blanchett is in it. I would watch Kmart TV commercials over and over if Cate were the lead in them. This woman is the most watchable female on film for me and still I find her one of the most beautiful women in the world. She is so graceful and a pure natural at what she does. She pretty much outshines Russ in every scene they share. Kate Winslet was the original choice for this role however she turned it down. Then for some reason Sienna Miller was cast as Maid Marion and she dropped out due to production delays and scheduling conflicts so our Lady of the Silver Screen Blanchett stepped in and I loved the fact both leads are Australian. I enjoyed their chemistry together.
Max Von Sydow is great as Sir Walter Loxley and I just loved William Hurt as William Marshall - Hurt looks awesome with a big beard and has aged very well. The rest of the cast, while great actors all kind of blend into the background. Oscar Isaac is good as Prince and King John and I found him quite humorous and his belting out of proclaiming Robin an "outlaw" was brilliant. But Mark Addy as Friar Tuck, Kevin Durand as Little John and Scott Grimes as Will Scarlett were all kind of lacking. I think a lot of the issue with this is that Robin Hood as been done to death - it might nearly be time to let the guy fade into legend, where he belongs.
The film drags for a part about a third of the way in and this is where most of the public will give up on the film or stick through it for enjoyment. People are expecting the giving from the rich to the poor and you will hardly see it. Instead it spends too much time establishing the many characters. For me though I enjoyed it all - these are the films I love and onscreen it looks beautiful.
What I disliked about the film is a few minor things, Robin all of a sudden saying "I love you Marion" was way too soon and kind of cheesy, I heard a few snickers from the audience but I was hooked on the love story but noted the snickers. Towards the end with Maid Marion riding into battle with a group of kids that looked like the Lost Boys from Peter Pan was too much for me. Why couldn't she just stay on the farm?
I also thought the story about the Lost Boys could have been more seriously taken and developed - it was a good angle of how Robin ended up in Sherwood but we just see them and they don't get too involved. I wanted more of this. I also found that while the film is an epic and filmed on a large scale that the action needed to be more on a large scale. There were none of those HUGE moments we saw in Gladiator or Braveheart - those big action moments where the audience goes "WOW". There was scene where Robin rides into Nottingham angry and wanting to kill and I was half raised out of my seat expecting the first huge moment and it was a good scene but never reached that pinnacle of excitement I was expecting. The archery is good but to be honest the archery in Prince of Thieves was more impressive. For this I think the film may fail, people are hungry for more of everything and for everything to be amped up but the film does not deliver on this front. The film concentrates on everything but never majorly develops one thing, this was also disappointing. Mark Strong, the bad guy, needed to be more bad, I wanted him to personally chop off a kid's head or something so we hate him to point of wanting to jump on the screen and punch him in the face, he was nasty and has a cloak that flows like Darth Vader but he was every bad guy we have seen before and this doesn't really scare many people.
It might appear my negatives outweigh the positives on this film but I am pointing out what I think people will not like. I and many other people will be entertained and enjoy returning to the Robin Hood world, even if it is somewhat different. To me it was about being entertained and I was hence why I liked it. But I think that teenagers and the majority of the movie-viewing majority will be disappointed in its lack of action and for this I think this film will be panned. But I can always be wrong as my viewing partner in crime, 17yr old Sebastian has just texted me and said "between you and me, I really enjoyed it" - so busted
. He strongly denied I saw him crying in an emotional scene of the film and it proves that teenagers may indeed enjoy it. Worth (7/10) and out this Thursday 13th May in Australia.
Hey people, I had the pleasure of attending the first screening of Robin Hood in Australia last night and boy oh boy it was a popular affair. Hosted at George St Cinemas this event was packed pretty much packed to the rafters. Before I get on to the film itself I just want to mention that the way the event was handled by Event Cinemas was not impressive. There were no queues set up for the 300 or 400 or so people that were asked to get there half an hour early to sign in their mobile phones. This was all handled ok but then everyone hung around the entrance to the cinema wanting to get in to find out there was still a film in session. When the movie ended we had to contend with a security guard telling me and 100s of people, some in their 60's to "get out of the way" - not nice at all. Then when it was all cleaned they had the option to open four doors to let everyone in and they opened one - it was a horrendous experience waiting for an accident to occur. Maybe next time some organised queuing would be in order. Another issue I have with the cinema we were in - I think it was CIN 1 - is that the projector is so high up and far back in the projection booth that about 20cm of the film actually plays on what looks like an air-conditioning vent on the roof about 10ft back from the screen so this annoyed the crap out of me through the whole film.
HOWEVER, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of the film itself and the presentation was well done. This would be Ridley Scott (Director) and Russell Crowe's seven thousandth collaboration on film after Scott turned Crowe into a household name following the humungous success of Gladiator. What most people expected from this film was Gladiator 2 with bows and arrows. It was quite a different experience and one that I think may either impress a lot of people or disappoint a lot of people. It is not the story of Robin Hood and his merry men that we are used to - it is more of a prequel of the story of Robin Hood aka Robin Longstride. In this it starts long before the legend of Robin Hood where Robin Longstride is an archer in the army of Richard Coeur de Lion who fights the Norman invaders and how he becomes the legend of Robin Hood.
In my opinion Russ is back, he is perfect in this role and it is subtler than the popcorn fuelled action of Gladiator. It has some great action scenes but this film will also appeal to senior citizens, as it is also a romance and dramatic character film. A bit of trivia - Crowe is the oldest actor to ever play Robin Hood - Sean Connery was 44 when he played him in Robin and Marian in 1976 and the big Russ is a mere 45 now. There are some great performances and this film was always going to be enjoyable for me as Cate Blanchett is in it. I would watch Kmart TV commercials over and over if Cate were the lead in them. This woman is the most watchable female on film for me and still I find her one of the most beautiful women in the world. She is so graceful and a pure natural at what she does. She pretty much outshines Russ in every scene they share. Kate Winslet was the original choice for this role however she turned it down. Then for some reason Sienna Miller was cast as Maid Marion and she dropped out due to production delays and scheduling conflicts so our Lady of the Silver Screen Blanchett stepped in and I loved the fact both leads are Australian. I enjoyed their chemistry together.
Max Von Sydow is great as Sir Walter Loxley and I just loved William Hurt as William Marshall - Hurt looks awesome with a big beard and has aged very well. The rest of the cast, while great actors all kind of blend into the background. Oscar Isaac is good as Prince and King John and I found him quite humorous and his belting out of proclaiming Robin an "outlaw" was brilliant. But Mark Addy as Friar Tuck, Kevin Durand as Little John and Scott Grimes as Will Scarlett were all kind of lacking. I think a lot of the issue with this is that Robin Hood as been done to death - it might nearly be time to let the guy fade into legend, where he belongs.
The film drags for a part about a third of the way in and this is where most of the public will give up on the film or stick through it for enjoyment. People are expecting the giving from the rich to the poor and you will hardly see it. Instead it spends too much time establishing the many characters. For me though I enjoyed it all - these are the films I love and onscreen it looks beautiful.
What I disliked about the film is a few minor things, Robin all of a sudden saying "I love you Marion" was way too soon and kind of cheesy, I heard a few snickers from the audience but I was hooked on the love story but noted the snickers. Towards the end with Maid Marion riding into battle with a group of kids that looked like the Lost Boys from Peter Pan was too much for me. Why couldn't she just stay on the farm?
I also thought the story about the Lost Boys could have been more seriously taken and developed - it was a good angle of how Robin ended up in Sherwood but we just see them and they don't get too involved. I wanted more of this. I also found that while the film is an epic and filmed on a large scale that the action needed to be more on a large scale. There were none of those HUGE moments we saw in Gladiator or Braveheart - those big action moments where the audience goes "WOW". There was scene where Robin rides into Nottingham angry and wanting to kill and I was half raised out of my seat expecting the first huge moment and it was a good scene but never reached that pinnacle of excitement I was expecting. The archery is good but to be honest the archery in Prince of Thieves was more impressive. For this I think the film may fail, people are hungry for more of everything and for everything to be amped up but the film does not deliver on this front. The film concentrates on everything but never majorly develops one thing, this was also disappointing. Mark Strong, the bad guy, needed to be more bad, I wanted him to personally chop off a kid's head or something so we hate him to point of wanting to jump on the screen and punch him in the face, he was nasty and has a cloak that flows like Darth Vader but he was every bad guy we have seen before and this doesn't really scare many people.
It might appear my negatives outweigh the positives on this film but I am pointing out what I think people will not like. I and many other people will be entertained and enjoy returning to the Robin Hood world, even if it is somewhat different. To me it was about being entertained and I was hence why I liked it. But I think that teenagers and the majority of the movie-viewing majority will be disappointed in its lack of action and for this I think this film will be panned. But I can always be wrong as my viewing partner in crime, 17yr old Sebastian has just texted me and said "between you and me, I really enjoyed it" - so busted
. He strongly denied I saw him crying in an emotional scene of the film and it proves that teenagers may indeed enjoy it. Worth (7/10) and out this Thursday 13th May in Australia.| 190 |
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Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Deni
Abstract Magick
Cinema Herald
BTW, I like reading your posts but your font is so small.
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Deni - will try and increase font size on my next article - this is the same font I have used for over 2yrs now
Russ is over the punching now I think - he is getting a bit older
Comment by Deni
Abstract Magick
Cinema Herald
Is there any indication that this movie will spawn a sequel since it appears to be the beginning of the legend?
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I'm a massive Ridley (Blade Runner, Alien, Someone to Watch Over Me) fan and love Robin Hood. But aside from The Insider have not really enjoyed Russell Crowe in much. Here he seems like a go to guy rather than the best choice.
The trailer failed to excite and the original story from Nottingham's perspective had me more excited than the angle taken here.
I may catch it on DVD but then again the Erroll Flynn version still ranks as my favourite beside Sean Connery's Robin and Marion...the Patrick Bergen/Uma Thurman one was interesting too...oh and I liked the Disney animated one..now I'm regretting Russell Crowe being cast even more, turns out I own several takes on the story but still don't want to see this on the bigscreen.
Comment by Spring-Heeled Jack
Over.Exposure
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
That projection problem sounds dreadful.
Comment by Deni
Abstract Magick
Cinema Herald
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by AmyHuang
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I'll see what Will wants to do this weekend
7/10 tho? What happened to rating films out of dollars?
Comment by Deni
Abstract Magick
Cinema Herald
My favorite Ridley Scott movies (not necessarily in this order).
-Alien
-Bladerunner
-Thelma & Louise
-Gladiator
-White Squall
-Matchstick Men
-Black Hawk Down
-American Gangster
Honorable mentions to:
-G.I. Jane
-Legend
-A Good Year
Jason - I was just kidding about the Russell "face-punch" bit.
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Deni - it is funny - one of the first things I said when I came out of this screening was - "nice opening for a sequel - my only issue with this is I do not think the film will have a long shelf life. Once the teenage crowd do not like it then they can kiss their box office goodbye. And without huge financial success you can see an end to any sequel. I also like the way it ends - slightly corny but it suckered me in
JD - many people seem to have a love hate relationship with Crowe - I do like your call of the "go to guy". I seem to have a small understanding of what you like and dislike and I do agree you should stay away from this one. Haha
SHJ - I would have loved to have seen the original idea of him playing two characters. In this one the Sheriff of Nottingham is a nothing part - the story is completely changed.
Bryn - you made a few of us laugh out loud at your comment, thanks. But no dissing Cate - she rocks
Deni - let us know what you think.
Amy - I think I liked it because I have similar tastes - I also love the medieval old time films. And the cinematography I forgot to mention - it is beautiful and makes the forrest very inviting.
Comment by Jason King
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Comment by Jason King
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Comment by Deni
Abstract Magick
Cinema Herald
"White Squall" was amazing. I thought it underrated too.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Good to see Alien and Blade Runner at the top, he hasn't surpassed those, and, for that matter, has anyone else.
Comment by ShaunK
Screen Adventure
I remember seeing the Kevin Costner one back in the day and don't have any inclination to return to Sherwood Forrest.
Comment by ShaunK
Screen Adventure
I always get bloody annoyed when a film isn't projected properly - it seems to be happening to every single movie I go to these days!!!
Comment by Wilson Pon
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Comment by Deni
Abstract Magick
Cinema Herald
I will admit that Russell was an interesting choice for Robin Hood but he and Ridley Scott have that "collaborative" relationship. Ridley loves working with either Russell Crowe or Denzel Washington.
When I first heard of this film, I could not see Russell as Robin Hood, but he's a good actor and I figured I'd have to see how he would interpret my idea of the character but now it's an entirely different ballgame because this version of Robin Hood is completely different from the legend we're all used to seeing.
Gerard would have done just as well. I think people are still somewhat "iffy" about Russell given his past tantrums - I don't think they have quite forgiven him yet.
Comment by Journeywoman
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Hear, hear! She's at the top of my favourite actors' list... Crowe, however, is at the very bottom. Haven't decided whether the two will neutralise enough for me to want to see it.
Sounds like the cinema was a bit of a nightmare!
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Wilson - to be honest I don't think the actor would change the outcome that much. I think this one needed a better story to be a GREAT film. But it is still enjoyable - I actually like Crowe in most films - he needs to get a new director though to expand his skills.
JW - Yay fellow Cate lover. She is a sight to watch on film. She has such classic styling and beauty when she acts - I get completely mesmerised. I think they may neutralise it enough for you to enjoy a bit
Thanks for the comments people.
Comment by Anonymous
The film playing on the roof is quite typical of George St, I have been to three films in the past month at Event and all three of them played on the roof!
Also im getting over Russel Crowe, and personally i felt like Russ and Kate were too old to be in that role - although i did find her quite entertaining.
In terms of the actual film itself though I was quite impressed - and no i definately did not cry Jason