Feared by the bad, loved by the good ...

Robin Hood :) This week's DVD rental was the 2010 movie of the same name. To describe it in one sentence, think The Return of Martin Guerre meets The Lion in Winter with just a dash of Gladiator. It's directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, William Hurt, and Max von Sydow.

The movie has received mixed to poor reviews so I wasn't hoping for much, but I do like the Plantagenets and also Russell Crowe, so I gave it a try. It was actually better than I'd expected. On the bad side, there were some historical inaccuracies, but though the timing of things was tweaked, in general the script wasn't that incredible .... John really did lose the baron's trust and they did revolt (The First Baron's War), asking for French (and Scottish) help, because John, with the pope's backing, did renege on a charter that reduced his power (the Magna Carta). Also, the movie seemed kind of dark and grim, and perhaps tried a little too hard to defuse the Robin Hood myth while at the same time making the characters and issues of that time modernly relevant.

The good stuff = Russell Crowe did well in his role (despite worries about his accent :), as did William Hurt and Max von Sydow, and the costumes, architecture, and countryside filmed were really beautiful. Here are some screen captures .....


- my favorite character in the film, Eleanor of Aquitaine's owl :)


- London


- King John and wife #2


- one of the many horses carved in chalk in the south of England


- the evil Sheriff of Nottingham with Robin's wanted poster


- Robin and Marian in Sherwood Forest