Once again Hollywood missed the mark while spending a lot of money doing what Hollywood does so well - claim great new ideas and approaches, then fall far short of the mark because what they really intended doing, is doing the same thing with new colors and different actors.
In other words after trotting out all the advertising, and shouting all the claims about a totally new Robin Hood, what they presented was a totally repetitive Robin Hood, and not even a particularly well done repeat - and the results verified that no one wants to see the same old legend trotted out again in contemporary Hollywood style with little more to recommend it than special effects - even if Russell Crowe is in the lead and Ridley Scott directed it.
David Roark of Relevant Magazine: "Scott has turned a myth, a concept essentially, into a history which emerges as dry, insensible clutter.
" (1) No one, young or old, was interested in the same old story line backed up by the same old tired writing with a yet another archer deluxe Robin Hood, an arrow spewing Maid Marion and tons of extras rising up against the ills of politics gone selfish.
Heck, if they wanted that kind of a show all they have to do is watch the United States Congress.
Rotten Tomatoes reported 43% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 215 reviews with an average rating of 5.
4/10 (2) Maybe somebody should have told them to base their movie on the only truly different approach to Robin Hood that has surfaced in over a century of countless "new" Robin's.
Perhaps if they had they used the story line that makes "Look Marion The Sky Is Filled With Angels", the most unique and controversial take on the legend, they would have had theatre goers lining up to see what all the fuss is about.
Maybe the strong writing of the novel would have been the impetus to a powerful and pungent script.
Maybe the idea that Robin Hood did not take from the rich and give to the poor because he was a "nice guy" but rather, as Pen (the narrator) says, "We took from the wealthy, the poor we left to themselves, unless they were arrogant poor, then we took from them also..
...
" would have brought more than a smile to the people in the theatre seats.
If someone in the scripting department had taken the time to seek out a truly powerful approach they might have found a haven for a riveting script that would have broken all the boundaries of conventional re-telling and opened up an entirely fresh interpretation.
Maybe they would have found that the answer Cornelius gives to Robin to be the most important answer ever given to Robin and the best reason to re-tell the story: "Robin asked if he had similar friends.
Cornelius said no, he'd been particularly sensitive of his choices and had been very discreet, maybe even fearful.
There was only the man he'd been found with..
...
" But, that would have meant that they would have had to look beyond the Hollywood traditions, contacts and safety nets - although in this case the safety net that was supposed to have been provided by Russell Crowe (an excellent actor) and Ridley Scott, proved to be a safety net with big holes - holes big enough to let the film fall through.
It is s shame that even here, in the midst of legend, the Hollywood footprint is not something you would like to see in Sherwood Forest, rather you might want it trampled over until it has been melded back into the moist earth of that hallowed place.
If you are interested in what they missed try going to Amazon.
com and buying the printed version of "Look Marion The Sky Is Filled With Angels", or the Kindle version.
And if you do, be prepared to be a little bit surprised at first, then maybe a little shocked, and by the time you have finished reading, maybe a little (or a lot) moved by the power of the idea, the strength of the writing, and most importantly, the originality, integrity and literary merit of an author who took on the question of why Robin Hood, or anyone, would commit himself to a life outside the law with men very different from himself, men whose choice of a life style while they lived inside the law, was outside the law.
Read it and know why this movie failed and this book does not.
And then e-mail Russell and Ridley and tell them to do something really unique in the annals of Hollywood - admit to a mistake and correct it.
Remake it, the right way, the only way, the way they should have done it in the first place - from a source that is simultaneously literature and a totally unique story.
(1) Robin Hood-Review.
Relevant Magazine.
(2) Robin Hood Movie Reviews, Pictures.
Rotten Tomatoes.