Robin Hood is a fun film. No, it’s not great, and it’s a pretty outrageous re-imagining of history, but frankly it all hangs together surprisingly well. The music is pretty forgettable, there is some ill-advised cheese in the relationship between Robin and Marian, and I’m getting tired of all these bald villains in movies nowadays (enough already!) But on the whole the movie is pretty enjoyable. Let me put it this way: If I was given a choice between watching this again or watching Braveheart again, I would pick Robin Hood in a second.

Russell Crowe is again teamed with Ridley Scott, playing another “grunting role,” but I found this one more tolerable and interesting than Gladiator.  William Hurt is actually decent in a small role – I never thought I would ever say anything good about William Hurt, but there you are. The supporting acting is uneven, but it doesn’t really matter that much in this case. You’re watching to film to see Russell Crowe kick ass, and that is indeed what you get.

Then there is Maid Marian. She starts off as the typical downtrodden 12th century woman, but as the film progresses she emerges as more and more of a “kick-ass broad”, culminating with her showing up on the final battlefield in chain-mail, swinging a freaking broadsword, and wearing the sexiest helmet ever created. Ridiculous, but fun!

Robin Hood: a diverting action film that never gets too full of itself. I would check it out, especially if you avoided it on the recommendation of film critics. It really is a lot better than most of the shit I’ve been seeing this year.