Robin Hood (2010— 140 mins) Russell Crowe,Cate Blanchett, M. Strong

   Most of the Robin Hood tales that have been made into movies in the past are those of the band of men robbing the rich giving to the poor, or foiling King John’s rule at every turn. Sure they usually have the little opening sequence where some of the band meet each other, the fight with little John, the meeting of Marion, but it’s usually a tale of their deeds and then unseating the dastardly king and his own band of idiot sheriff and right hand man Godfrey. The difference we see with this years update is that it’s all a prequel. It’s a total backstory of how the legend became an outlaw and how the lands came to hate the new king.

  We do get some of the pieces we want in the back story. The meeting with little John and some other men, and also how Robin meets Marion, but instead of forwarding ahead a few years to when they are in the midst of their deeds this tale keeps going with the back story. It’s a unique take on it and it really keeps us interested. It’s a legend not too unlike that of King Arthur. We know what we have been told in movies and plenty of bedtime tales boys and girls have been told over the ages, but neither man has 100% concrete story to point to as the real man. The writers and director have done some due diligence to get some info and try and base this as much as possible on some historic events and instead of some boring tales of the time period (See the multitude of snoozefest Elizabeth movies), they deliver a cross between a history lesson and Gladiator. Sure the fact that it’s a glorified story wrapped up with some action fight scenes and a pep talk/speech straight out of Gladiator or Braveheart, might turn some people off. BUT NOT ME! I say bring it on Ridley Scott! I want more. I don’t think we have reached our saturation point of these type movies. As long as you give us a great story, and great actors in these type tales then I will continue to enjoy them and shell out my money to see them. I can only hope they can find a way to continue the story after the events of the movie to where we can take what we have learned and bought into as the back story, and give us another well written fun ride into the life of Robin Hood and his band.

Verdict—> It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize the GeekJock was going to like this movie. It’s got a great cast and the source material is awesome. It’s worth the price of admission and if you haven’t seen it go ahead and grab it this weekend!

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