Russell Scott Quilter


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Russell Scott Quilter

Russell Scott Quilter

The latest Robin Hood film, starring Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott, hit theatres recently to mixed reviews. Crowe said in an interview that the film wouldn’t be worth doing unless this was the best Robin Hood movie ever. So did he succeed? Beware, spoilers follow from here.

Russell Crowe as Robin Hood

The biggest problem with the film isn’t Crowe’s performance. He does a good job, though he does look bored in some scenes. The problem is that he is not playing Robin Hood as we know him. Sherwood Forest is barely mentioned in the film until the end. And Robin is not the familiar Robin of Locksley (or Loxley as it is spelt in this film) we are familiar with from the tales. He is Robin Longstride, the son of the man who helped craft an early version of the Magna Carta. Robin takes up the identity of Robert Loxley after he is killed in battle. In one of many plot contrivances, Robert’s father actually knew Robin as a boy and knew his father. Viewers going in expecting to see Russell Crowe robbing from the rich and giving to the poor will be sadly disappointed, as it is only briefly touched upon in this film, a film that attempts to tell an origin story to Robin, but has none of the magic of the original tale.