I’ve been trying to think of a way that I can return some link love for all those critics/blogs that I love to read. Since I love reading reviews of films that I’ve seen what I’ll do is each week whatever new release that I review here I will post what I think the General Consensus of the movie is by posting short snippets of many reviews here. Check it out below:
So here’s how this is going to work. Since I want to create an average score for the film (like my own blogosphere only version of RT or IMDB) I will only count reviews that have a rating. If your rating is letter graded then I will convert it using High School style grades (i.e. A = 9/10, B = 8/10, C = 7/10, D = 5/10, F = 3/10). I’ll definitely mention other, non-scaled reviews, but they won’t be calculated into the overall General Consensus.
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Written by: Brian Helgeland
Starring: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong, Danny Huston & Oscar Isaac
Release Date: May 14 (US), May 14 (JA)
Reviews
Not Rated Reviews
“In his fifth Scott-directed venture, Crowe doesn’t bother to stretch his acting muscles in any way, merely growling, scowling and squinting as he walks though each scene as if determined to just get it all over with as soon as possible.” – Dawn Taylor from Cinematical
“The truth is, I’m not any more in love with the character than I was when the movie started. Robin Hood, to me, is still a vanilla crusader who’s only good for a couple of hours of arrow-shooting and swashbuckling, and that’s what Robin Hood, the film, delivers.” – John Gholson from Cinematical
“Despite that very rough story, Robin Hood does have a lot to admire, from its great production values to the impressive cast with quite a few very memorable performances (from Mark Strong, William Hurt, Max von Sydow and Scott Grimes), but it just doesn’t seem to live up to the level I usually expect from Ridley Scott.” – Alex Billington from FirstShowing.net
“I think what Ridley Scott did was here gutsy and brilliant. It’s a completely different point of view on the world and characters, yet there was no moment in the film that I thought was disingenuous nor did I ever doubt a character action or motivation.” – Shannon from Movie Moxie.
Rated Reviews
“Despite it’s tone imbalance, poorly placed dialogue and mishandled characters, the film is likely to connect with audiences based on scale and star pedigree alone.” – Neil Miller from Film School Rejects. Grade: D+ (6.0/10)
“In fairness, there are admirable qualities about Robin Hood, and the best analogy I can think of is walking through a model home and taking note of all the great amenities, but no matter what room you walk into, you always hear the walls creak.” from Get the Big Picture. Grade: 4/10
“This is a film with no distinguishing characteristics. If it mugged you in an alley, you would only be able to tell the police, “Well, it was two hours and 20 minutes long, and it had Russell Crowe, and there were a lot of bows and arrows, and I think the Prince John character was kind of fun, sometimes.” The police artist would do a composite sketch, and they’d show it on the news, and everyone would say, “Wow, that looks a lot like ‘Gladiator.’ Are you sure it wasn’t ‘Gladiator’ that mugged you? Has anyone seen ‘Gladiator’ lately?” And you’d say no, this was similar to “Gladiator,” only more average, less fun, and slightly shorter.” – Eric D. Snider. Grade:C (7/10)
“The most fun elements of ROBIN HOOD should not be surprising – the well-executed battle scenes and the mirth of his Merry Men. They’re curiously underused, but they brighten the screen whenever they appear.” – Kate Erbland from Gordon and the Whale. Grade: 4/10
“Yes, there’s a lot going on. While many will argue it’s perhaps a bit on the convoluted side, it isn’t. If you simply pay attention you will be rewarded; it doesn’t consistently pander and feel dumbed down. That said, it’s got a messy side to it.” – Jack Giroux from The Film Stage. Grade: 7/10
“I found the film overly long, drawn out and tedious. When during some point in a film I ask myself “When is this going to be over?” – that is a bad sign. Sure there are some good battle scenes but there’s an awful lot of boring in between.” – Vic Holtreman from ScreenRant. Grade: 6/10
“I don’t necessarily mind the look or even that all the characters have perfect teeth and aren’t dying of the plague. What I mind is that they’re one-dimensional. You want to show me a realistic Robin Hood? Try not making him the best guy ever. How about he does some things that make you uncomfortable and question his moral compass? But you won’t get that, at least not in a $200 million movie.” – Matt Goldberg from Collider. Grade:D+ (6.0/10)
“I cannot discover any sincere interest on the part of Scott, Crowe or the writer Brian Helgeland in any previous version of Robin Hood. Their Robin is another weary retread of the muscular macho slaughterers who with interchangeable names stand at the center of one overwrought bloodbath after another.” – Roger Ebert. Grade: 5/10
“This feels like a Robin Hood story forced into a screenplay that’s part-Gladiator, part-Peter Pan and even a little bit of Lord of the Rings as Cate Blanchett as Marion Loxley leads what looks like a crew of adopted Hobbits into the climactic battle.” – Brad Brevet from Rope of Silicon. Grade:D (5/10)
“If there is one thing that Ridley Scott does extremely well, it is grandiose action battle scenes and he continues to deliver with great attention to details in this $200 million production. Watching medieval warfare unfold is a spectacle by itself but Robin Hood is visually stunning from beginning to end and some of the sights are nothing short of rousing. Best of all, there is very little apparent CGI used and everything looks as authentic as it gets.” – Castor from Anomalous Material. Grade: 8/10
“With a few good performances and a couple really good battle sequences that you’ll enjoy it does have some character problems here and there that will bother you.” – me from here. Grade: 6/10
“Robin Hood isn’t really Robin Hood. It’s the effect of a production team taking a recognizable name and group of characters, a vague idea and writing a story around it.” – Marina Antunes from Row Three. Grade: 7/10
“Maybe viewing this movie simply on its own merits would prove rather boring and typical period piece horse shit? There does seem to be quite a little bit of the more typical melodrama and wankerific attempts at humor that often times plague these types of period sets when produced by lesser film makers.” – Andrew James from Row Three. Grade: 8/10
“Since ROBIN HOOD is Ridley Scott’s film, I tried to consider where it would fit within his spectrum of films, and sadly it isn’t as good as GLADIATOR or KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (the latter was hardly a hit with audiences of critics). For me much of the reason comes down to never tapping into the determination of either of those films.” – Mad Hatter from The Dark of the Matinee. Grade: 6.25/10
Avg. Score: 6.1/10