Not So Merry Man

[RobW]

Crowe gets shirty over Hood accent

*Some spoilers*

Couldn't see an existing thread on 'Robin Hood' but saw it on Friday. Pretty average fare. I'm getting a bit sick of these 'gritty reinventions', after the success of 'Batman Begins' and to a lesser extent, the latest Bond films. So here we have, without giving too much away, Robin Hood saving England from French invasion (complete with D-Day landing craft by the look of it).

King John is played just exactly the same as Joaquin Phoenix played Commodus. Little spoilt brat, akin to Harry Enfield's 'Kevin the Teenager'. Cate Blanchett tries to do her best to rise above it all, and Mark Strong is good.

Oh, the accent though. At times it seems Irish, other times I think Crowe's aping Sean Bean's portrayal of Richard Sharpe. It grates almost as much as Bale's Batman voice.

It's not a terrible movie, but nor does it excite. Some nice set-pieces and battle scenes don't save it from being rather drab.

[Mumpo]

Not So Merry Man

The East Midlands accent is not widely known outside these shores, is it.

Come to think of it, it's not widely known outside the East Midlands. If Crowe wanted some training, he could have done worse than watch a few 'Britain's Shittiest Pubs' style documentaries.

[Levin]

Not So Merry Man

Oh, the only thing tempting me to see this was the actor playing King John as he was really very good in Agora. But from what you say (robw) it just looks like he has been molded by Ridley Scott too much in his attempt to make Gladiator 2.

[Wyatt Earp]

Not So Merry Man

Mumpo wrote:

The East Midlands accent is not widely known outside these shores, is it.

Come to think of it, it's not widely known outside the East Midlands. If Crowe wanted some training, he could have done worse than watch a few 'Britain's Shittiest Pubs' style documentaries.

Apparently there's a Yorkshire theory of Robin Hood's origins, and Crowe's supposed to have gone with that. (Maybe there was a split, with Nottinghamshire setting up the Union of Democratic Merry Men and doing a deal with the Sherriff. Sorry.)

[Spearmint Rhino]

Not So Merry Man

Ha ha ha

[hobbes]

Not So Merry Man

There is nothing more likely to stop me ever watching this film than the fucking annoying pop-over ads for it that have been infesting OTF for the last week or so.

[Nishlord]

Not So Merry Man

*bites entire lower face*

[Sean of the Shed]

Not So Merry Man

I saw it on Sunday and thought it was pretty good, without being too taxing on the mind. I think it raises it's expectations higher than they should be by being the story of Robin Hood, when, if looked as as a 12th century adventure movie, it's an enjoyable war drama. I think the thing that has upset all of you, which you're not prepared to admit, is the fact that Russell Crowe isn't prancing about the woods in a pair of green tights with a feather in his hat. You've all been brainwashed by the old fairytale images as portrayed by Jason Connery and Errol Flynn. My little nephew still insists he was a fox, for God's sake, even though I try to point out to him that he was not a fox, in fact he was a bit of a minger.

[Etienne]

Not So Merry Man

What hobbes said.

[Reed John]

Not So Merry Man

I really enjoyed it overall; one of the better period action pieces I can recall. Way better than Gladiator, which I hated. And certainly way better than the Kevin Costner version.

******spoilers**************
I think they're going to do a sequel. I hope they do.
This film just gets us from when Robin returns from the Crusade up until he becomes and Outlaw and thus was really merely a prequel to the more common Robin Hood story of him living in the woods and shooting arrows at aristocrats from behind trees in a primeval forest. That's the Robin Hood that I grew up wanting to be like and the one I want to see.
************************

Mark Strong is great as a villain. He's going to do Sinestro in the Green Lantern film too, you know.

[Sean of the Shed]

Not So Merry Man

Mark Strong has become the world's most evil man, even more so than Gary Oldman used to be.