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When I first read (or listened) to the tales of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle, I felt excited about something I read for the first time in a long time. Maybe the timing was right - it wasn't long after a trip to the British Isles and I was enjoying a lot of Celtic folk music. At any rate, I fell in love with the stories and they became instant favorites. I sought out the Errol Flynn movie as well. For me, Robin Hood was young, lively, happy, full of song, full of jests, and up for adventure. When I saw the trailers for Ridley Scott's movie, I knew I would hate it, but also knew that I needed to see it so that I could tell everyone why it was so bad. So I waited patiently for the movie to fall to the cheap theater (obviously I wouldn't pay full price to see it).

In cases like this, I'm happy when I'm wrong.

What? Did I just say that? I can't believe it. I actually liked this movie. First off, let me just say that it didn't take long (opening credits) for me to realize that this would be nothing like the Robin Hood I love. Once I accepted that, I just let myself watch this movie like any kind of period action-drama; it just happened to have a bunch of characters with the same names as the ones in folklore. On that level, I think it works, and I even liked it better than Gladiator (although if you've heard me talk about Gladiator, I know that's not the biggest endorsement).

In this story, Robin Longstride is in King Richard's army, which is headed home after war. The king dies, and Robert Loxley is entrusted with the king's crown, which is to be taken back to England to be given to Prince John. On his way, Loxley is intercepted by Godfrey's men, who are intercepted by Robin's men. Robin ends up with the crown and the dying Loxley's father's sword, and promises to return both to their rightful owners. After delivering the crown, he goes to Loxley's home town and assumes Loxley's life temporarily, in order to help his widow, Marion, from losing her property (or something like that). Pretty soon an uprising is starting up against Prince John and there's danger of a French invasion, and it's up to Robin and his men to save the day.

I'm not even going to research the history behind any of this. I'll just say that as a story, I thought the dynamics of royalty and power were set up well. It actually surprised me how much focus was put on this part of the story. I really expected more fluff for a summer blockbuster, but the movie was unexpectedly subdued. The trailers led me to believe it would be all action, but I was very happy to find that the events in Loxley's small town, the interest between Robin and Marion, and the story of Robin's own identity all unfolded quietly. That was completely unexpected.

I think because of my skepticism, I didn't even bother paying attention to the cast of Robin Hood until I saw the movie; it's rather impressive. Of note is Max von Sydow as Loxley's elderly father, who is so noble that he will attempt a sword fight even though he's blind. The cheering presence of Mark Addy, Kevin Durand, Scott Grimes, and Alan Doyle as the merry men was a welcome one. Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett balance their roles well, and other good performances by the likes of Wiliam Hurt (Wililam Marshal) and Eileen Atkins (Eleanor of Aquitaine) balance out some of the slightly over-acted parts by Mark Strong and Oscar Isaac as Godfrey and Prince John.

The script isn't without its flaws. Ridley Scott is prone to repetition of lines or images to create an emotional impact, and for me this repetition feels a bit like a club to the head. But again, I was really surprised at how this movie wasn't all about flare. The story moves along well, the action is distributed evenly and at appropriate times, and there were really only a couple of gimmicks that made me groan.

Despite being in a theater full of talkers, I actually found this to be a pleasant movie-going experience. I may need to see it again to see if my positive response is simply due to low expectations, but for now I'll stand by this movie and say that for what it is, I actually thought it was pretty good.