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[Koray Savas]

Robin Hood: Director's Cut

I feel like the original concept of this film would have been great, but it got chewed up and spit out by the studio. There's some pacing issues, the film never really takes off until around the mid point. Even then it feels like it wants to be more than it is. The battles blend together without much build up or resolution. The tone is also either here or there. Most of the time it's serious and dramatic, but there's an inherent lightheartedness in the Robin Hood character. They try to bring that through but it fails, the humor just ends up being awkward amongst the action.

Also, the fact that this is the story of how the legend began serves as a bullet in the foot. For example, the scene where the "lost boys" kidnap Robin and he breaks free and tells them how he can teach them all sorts of things. I wanted to see that happen, but of course that comes after he becomes the legend, and that hasn't happened yet. The cinematography is muddied without much contrast, but it fits well with certain elements of the film. Some scenes look good, particularly the opening shot.

Acting is pretty good overall. Russell Crowe does what he usually does, sometimes with Irish accent, sometimes without. Cate Blanchett is good as Maid Marion, and so is Max Von Sydow as her father-in-law. Mark Strong is kind of just there, and his character is poorly utilized, considering he's the main villain. But then again he isn't, which leads right back to the "before the legend" thing. Streitenfeld's score is very good albeit very repetitive. There are two standout themes that are lovely in their own right but get used to death over the 150 minute runtime.

All in all, a very watchable film but not one I'll be revisiting soon. Oh, the Ridleygram (as the menu calls it) end credits sequence is pretty awesome.

[Richard Penna]

I've caught bits of this on Sky (mainly to hear the score in action) and it just struck me as rather pointless. Nothing stood out as being particularly remarkable, and as you've touched upon, many sequences, especially battles, just seem strung together.

And of course the score is butchered to pieces. Not gonna win my respect by doing that!