“The story that we’re looking at is: where does this guy Robin come from?,” Russell Crowe asks in a new featurette for the upcoming Ridley Scott action/adventure picture, “Robin Hood” that stars Cate Blanchett and a host of other estimable actors such as William Hurt, Matthew Macfadyen, Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac, Lea Seydoux, Scott Grimes, Kevin Durand, Alan Doyle, Danny Huston and Max von Sydow.
The featurette also reveals a ton of new footage from the film for those that can’t wait til early May. It’s actually fairly interesting stuff and way better than the trailer, which looked an awful lot like “Gladiator” Part Deux.
In the clip, Crowe, Scott and Blanchett discuss what drives the character of Robin Hood and why this unlikely hero decides to help the people of Nottingham. As Scott puts it, “Robin Hood is based on the fundamental notion of fairness…when fair is not being displayed…his reaction would be to step in.” “He really was a crusader for the people. A fighter for the people, a representative of the people,” says producer, Brian Grazer. Or as Blanchett simply puts it, “What makes Robin Hood tick? What makes him decide to help people who are downtrodden.”
With tremendous gravitas and import (masterpiece theater-like solemnity), the featurette shows Robin Hoods’ rise from a common archer to a legendary medieval vigilante. Crowe explains, “Over the course of the story he gets to realize who he is and see his own destiny as over taken it and he has enjoined in something much larger than he thought it was… this gigantic story, it will take you to a different time period…it is a fully immersing experience”.
Sure, it’s like an extended trailer with additional commentary from the cast and a producer and yes, it looks familiar as big, epic period films can start to blur together, however, as a summer blockbuster, this latest version of “Robin Hood” looks like it could do fairly well at the box-office. And again, has us more interested than what we’ve seen in the trailers so far. That said, we worry that a lack of humor may make this a long slog, but when Scott’s earnestness, works (“Gladiator”), you don’t really mind that it takes itself so seriously.
Though it is scheduled to screen out of competition, “Robin Hood” has been confirmed as the opening night film at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and is set for worldwide theatrical release a few days later on May 14th. — Sara Laurence & Edward Davis
