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Robin Hood review
:. Director: Ridley Scott
:. Starring: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett
:. Running Time: 2:20
:. Year: 2010
:. Country: USA
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After Genghis Khan, Che, James Bond or Batman, a certain fashion dictates the 7th Art to revisit a myth by counting us its birth. In contrast to the interpretations of Errol Flynn or Kevin Costner (which Russell Crowe compares to a Bon Jovi clip!), Ridley Scott's version of Robin Hood wants to be more modern and darker, even if this darkness exults a few keys of humor; the Palme for best joke going to the scene where Richard the Lion Hearted dies shot by a crossbow, his executioner being a mere French cook. Clearly, French gastronomy killed the King of England.
For the rest, Robin Hood does not really have any other ambition than to entertain by taking itself seriously without investing itself further. We, therefore, will be entitled to scenes of epic battles, to sieges of bedeviled castles, to the unhandsome and scarred nasty villain who will end up badly after a final duel, to the story of love and to good old values like brotherhood, loyalty and integrity. Robin, therefore, is not yet a desperado, but a valiant archer in the service of the Crown, who fights against the French and the felonious Lords. Portrayed by Russell Crowe, the character resembles Gladiator's Maximus (same actor and director) teleported to another century and unto other battlefields, but wearing the same haircut, the same poses and blessed with the same charismatic skills of a leader.
Lady Marianne does not wallow from the heights of her dungeon, but leaves her mark on all fields, that of wheat or of battle. As for the Sheriff of Nottingham, he is a coward without the assurance conferred to him by his functions. The story itself is not that of the Prince of Thieves, but that of an England on its knees after decades of crusades, threatened by French invasion, and ruled by a rapacious and tyrannical king. In these troubled times, a soldier who inherited his late father's quest for justice, embraces History by seeking the origins of his own, before becoming who we know.
If Scott wanted to depart from the traditional images of Robin Hood, exchanging the low green leather tights for leather pants, he pushes further into modernity by multiplying references to the major conflicts that shook the 20th century. He thereby directs the gassing of villagers, a landing worthy of that of the landing on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, and evokes the massacre of Muslims in the Holy Land. If the idea seems interesting, a priori, it nevertheless leaves us wondering about the stakes of the undertaking, the reasons for these choices, its message. One can imagine an inclination to make the film universal, but its regalia of pure entertainment quenches any desire to look deeper into the issue. The film will therefore please Gladiator fans and that is already not so bad.
Moland Fengkov
Translated into English by Christina Azarnia
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