Latest 'Robin Hood' movie offers new take on an old tale

A few days ago, I finally got the chance to see the 2010 film, “Robin Hood,” and I thought it was very good.

Directed by Ridley Scott, this version of the Robin Hood tale starred Russell Crowe as Robin Longstride, aka, Robin Hood. Other actors in the film included Cate Blanchett (Lady Marian), Oscar Isaac (King John), Mark Addy (Friar Tuck), Danny Huston (King Richard the Lionhearted), Matthew Macfadyen (Sheriff of Nottingham) and Kevin Durand (Little John).

This movie opened in theatres on May 14 and posted gross revenues of $311.6 million against an original budget of $155 million.

I’m sure that most of you know the story of Robin Hood. He’s an ace archer, who fights against the tyranny of the English throne by robbing the rich and giving to the poor. Aided by his band of merry men, he causes a lot of trouble for the unsavory King John and his lackey, The Sheriff of Nottingham.

While some of that makes it into this movie, this film offered a refreshing new take on the Robin Hood tale. The year is 1199, and Longstride is an archer in King Richard’s army. Richard is killed during a battle in France, and Longstride and some of his friends start to make their way home as Richard’s army disbands without his leadership.

On the road to the French coast, Longstride’s men come upon the corpses of King Richard’s closest knights, who were taking Richard’s crown back to England, where it was to be presented to his brother and heir to the throne, John. Unfortunately, these knights didn’t make it that far because they were slain in an ambush before they could reach the coast, where a ship awaited to take them across the English Channel.

Needing a ride home, Longstride and his friends don the knight’s clothing, armor and weapons and pose as the couriers of the crown. As you might imagine, they end up in England and eventually find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

One cool thing that I liked about this movie came near the end and concerned Longstride’s father, who died when Longstride was a small boy. His father was said to have been a stonemason, who hid a document in a secret compartment at the base of a fountain at Nottingham. The document espoused a number of ideals, including a basic set of rights for all men. All of this is a major plot point in the film and is important to the climax of the movie. You don’t have to be a genius to see the reference here to freemasonry, the eventual signing of the Magna Carta and, by extension, the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

In the end, I enjoyed this movie. As with most Ridley Scott films, it offered a lot of action, and the story moves along at an exciting clip. It also doesn’t take a viewer long to figure out that this isn’t your typical Robin Hood movie, which makes the movie even more interesting.

Have any of you had a chance to watch this movie? If so, what did you think about it? Let us know in the comments section below.