Title: Robin Bland
Product review: Rarely has such a potentially exciting and adventurous figure as Robin Hood been rendered so bland and listless as he has in this film version of the noble bandit. Russell Crowe seems lost, Cate Blanchett is far too classy for this film, and Max von Sydow phones in his performance. Although I'm usually a fan of Ridley Scott's work, this one is just an unfortunate misfire--I wonder whether he has forgotten how to tell a story. The numerous villains in this story are poorly developed (as are just about all of the supporting characters), the plot--which wanders aimlessly--is unnecessarily complicated by irrelevant subplots and revisions to the standard Robin Hood tale, and the whole thing devolves into a boring, pathetic mess. Perhaps Scott and screenwriter Brian Helgeland were hoping to breathe new life into this classic tale, but they ultimately sucked the last vestige of vitality right out of it.
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