Movie Reviews
Robin Hood Hits Screens!
Matt Smith 14 May, 2010 - 12:17 PM
Robin Hood
Starring Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and Mark Strong.
‘Robin Hood’ charts the origins of the legendary medieval outlaw who stole from the rich to give to the poor. Starting out with Robin (Russell Crowe) fighting under King Richard’s army against the French, the tale then moves to Nottingham, where he falls in love with Maid Marian (Cate Blanchett). Together with a little help form his friends, they set out to protect the town from an evil sheriff and the new king’s crippling new tax system.
The film sees Russell Crowe once again team up with his Oscar winning ‘Gladiator’ director, Ridley Scott. Like that previous outing ‘Robin Hood’ looks fantastic, with every minute detail carefully crafted. The fight scenes are particularly realistic and Crowe certainly breathes new life into the character that has been in some dire need of a manlier makeover. Unfortunately, Crowe’s Robin Hood looks and feels a touch too much like Gladiator’s Maximum, just with a different set of skills and a little better bed side manner.
The performances from all involved including Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong and William Hurt are particularly strong. Although, Blanchett as Crowe’s love interest feels a little forced and lacking any serious sizzle. When they are not sharing the screen together they are both fantastic, but what should have been a match made in heaven, feels more like a great publicity ploy.
In many respects ‘Robin Hood’ ticks all the boxes that you would expect; it looks great, it has a wonderful story, it is super realistic and the performances are mostly spot on. Unfortunately, it also comes with a serious sense of familiarity and the attention to story detail makes it feel like a four hour long movie instead of the just over two hours that it is.
Fans of all things ye-olde-medievil should find plenty to enjoy, those seeking easy going escapism might find the film a little too intense.
Three out of Five Stars.
Letters to Juliet
Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael Garcia Bernal and Franco Nero.
Sophie is a successful young New Yorker with a passionate restaurateur fiancé, Victor. When their holiday to Italy together goes pear shaped Sophie sets out on her own adventure. With Victor busy chasing all the best food Italy has to offer, Sophie seeks out the Verona courtyard where lovelorn women leaves notes for Shakespeare’s Juliet.
A discovery leads her to a job with the Secretaries of Juliet, who respond to all of the letters. The job is unpaid, but it offers other kinds of cultural rewards and leads her to Claire and his uppity son Charlie (played by Australian Chris Egan). The three set out on a journey to find Claire’s long lost love Lorenzo.
‘Letters to Juliet’ is a pretty typical by the numbers romantic comedy. The beautiful Amanda Seyfried is well supported by the beautiful backdrop of Italy, Vanessa Redgrave as Claire and a show stealing turn by Gael Garcia Bernal as her fiancé Victor.
Those seeking a nice light hearted, even if somewhat predictable, night at the cinemas could do a lot worse than ‘Letters to Juliet’. Anyone that enjoyed Seyfried’s previous outing ‘Dear John’ should well and truly like this one.
Three out of Five Stars.
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