Robin Hood

Ridley Scott teams up again with his Gladiator star Russell Crowe to bring to us an awesome retelling of the famous folk lore of Robin Hood. This realistic and almost historically accurate depiction enables us to enjoy the tale from a totally different aspect.

We join Robin as an archer in King Richard's in the Crusades, who makes his way back to England with a few fellow deserters at the end of the war. Bent on completing a task, he heads to Nottingham where he meets Marion (Cate Blanchett) and seems to find his place back in civilization, until Sir Godfrey(Mark Strong)'s forces (he's working with the French) start to create havoc in the north and eventually happen upon Robin n his pals.

From there on it gets all action with the lords joining forces to drive out Sir Godfrey and the French, ally with a King they despise and then drive off the marauding forces of King Phillip on the shores of England, in front of the picturesque Seven Sisters.

However, the King then goes against his word, and outlaws Robin Hood and his men, who then seek refuge in Sherwood Forest... and hence begins the tale.

While there were a lot of mixed criticism from many quarters, i enjoyed the storytelling in this form. It seemed more real (Costner's version was always very romanticised), and more believable. Crowe is spectacular as usual, and while not as good as Gladiator, he does a great job wielding the longbow. Cate Blanchett's portrayal of Marion is nothing like the damsel in distress in earlier versions. She's equally apt with sword n bow, and while the chemistry is not entirely convincing, she was superb in her role.

Mark Strong is coming up with better performances with each movie he is cast in, but he may want to start looking for other roles other then the typecast baddie. as in Kick-Ass, Strong is utterly good playing bad!

The soundtrack i felt was a little let down, maybe this could have been what let the overall experience fall a little short.

verdict : Value for money, but could be much more