page_title: Robin Hood (2010 film)
section_title: Critical reception
hierarchical_section_title: Robin Hood (2010 film) / Reception / Critical reception
caption_attribution_description: English: Russell Crowe at the Man Of Steel red carpet movie premiere, Sydney 2013.
context_page_description: Robin Hood is a 2010 action-adventure film based on the Robin Hood legend, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, William Hurt, Mark Strong, Mark Addy, Oscar Isaac, Danny Huston, Eileen Atkins, and Max von Sydow.
  Development first began on the project in January 2007 with Universal Pictures' purchase of a spec script by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris which would see the film focus on a more prominent and sympathetic Sheriff of Nottingham. Crowe would be cast in the title role, with Ridley Scott hired to direct later that same year. Rewrites would delay the film throughout 2008, with Brian Helgeland hired to rewrite the screenplay, which saw a refocus of the story to be about Robin Hood once again, abandoning the Nottingham angle entirely. Filming would commence in March 2009 throughout England and Wales.
  Robin Hood held its world premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival the same day as its United Kingdom and Ireland releases. It was then released on 14 May 2010 in North America. The film received mixed reviews and grossed $321.7 million worldwide.
context_section_description: Critical reaction to Robin Hood has been mixed, with the film holding a 43% rating on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 245 reviews with an average rating of 5.34/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Ridley Scott's revisionist take on this oft-told tale offers some fine acting and a few gripping action sequences, but it's missing the thrill of adventure that made Robin Hood a legend in the first place." Another review aggregator, Metacritic, rates the film at 53% based on a normalised rating of 40 reviews.
  Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two stars out of four, writing that "little by little, title by title, innocence and joy is being drained out of the movies." Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News felt that "the problem with Russell Crowe's new take on the legend is that it has one muddy boot in history and the other in fantasy. The middling result is far from a bull's-eye." David Roark of Relevant accused Scott of replacing depth with detail and manipulative themes, like vengeance and unjust war, and stated that Scott had sucked the life out of a cherished fable, writing that "Scott has turned a myth, a concept essentially, into a history which emerges as dry, insensible clutter." Anthony Lane, writing for The New Yorker, found the film "dour and dun", and was critical of Crowe's performance, stating "His Robin, however, seems pathologically glum; even when leading a cavalry charge on a white steed, he cuts a lonesome figure, marooned in his own feuds and ruminations". Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly was critical of the film not holding any traits of the Robin Hood myth, and said of Scott's direction and Crowe's performance "Scott and Crowe made a great movie out of Gladiator, tapping deep into the showbiz masculine bravura of ancient-world Hollywood spectaculars. In Robin Hood, Scott tries to go deep again, but in a misguided way — he thinks he’s making a pop-medieval Saving Private Robin. The battles are grainy and ”existential,” but what they aren't is thrilling. They're surging crowd scenes with streams of arrows and flecks of blood, and Crowe, slashing his way through them, is a glorified extra. He's so grimly possessed with purpose that he's a bore, and so is the movie".
  Among the film's more positive reviews, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "Scott has great command of his action sequences" and praised his "sophisticated approach to the material." Ty Burr of the Boston Globe called the film "smart, muscular entertainment" and wrote that Crowe "possesses a presence and authority to make you forget all about Kevin Costner." Lou Lumenick of the New York Post called Robin Hood "head and shoulders above the sort of lightheaded epics Hollywood typically offers during the summer season." While making note of the film downplaying several of its characters, Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter was complimentary of the film, and gave praise to John Mathieson's cinematography and Marc Streitenfeld's musical score.
  Russell Crowe received criticism from the British media for his variable accent during the film. Empire said his accent was occasionally Scottish, while Total Film thought there were also times when it sounded Irish. Mark Lawson, while interviewing Crowe on BBC Radio 4, suggested there were hints of Irish in his accent, which angered Crowe who described this as "bollocks" and stormed out.
  A number of reviewers have criticised historical inaccuracies in the film. In The New York Times, A. O. Scott complained that the film made "a hash of the historical record". In The Guardian, Alex von Tunzelmann complained that the film was filled with historical impossibilities and anachronisms. She notes that Richard the Lionheart was indeed fighting in France in 1199, but that he had actually come back from the Holy Land seven years earlier, so it is inaccurate to depict him fighting in France on his way back from the Holy Land in 1199, as is the case in the film.
caption: Russell Crowe's performance as Robin earned a mixed response, with some specific criticism aimed towards his accent in the film.
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