Robin Hood: The Story of the Legend

By Briana Nickol, Staff Writer

“I declare him…. an outlaw!” Those were the fateful words that transformed the trouble-free archer Robin Longstride the legendary Robin [of the] Hood. Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, and who could forget his band of merry men in tights? But how did he become the legend, and what was the story behind it all? Ridley Scott\’s new Robin Hood film is all about the legend.

Robin Longstride is an archer in the army of King Richard the Lion Heart, in the year 1200 A.D. When the king is killed in a raid against a French fortress, Robin and his men set out for home. As Robin and his men head for the shores of France, nearby a small party of knights is transporting the king\’s crown to an awaiting sea vessel off of France\’s coast, to crown the king\’s younger brother, John, the new King of England. While traveling, the party is attacked by a French ambush, and the head of the party, Robert Loxley, is wounded. Robin and his men find the party, and with his last breath, Loxley begs Robin to take his father\’s sword back to Nottingham. Robin agrees and travels to Nottingham, where he meets the now widowed Lady Marion Loxley, and Robert\’s father Walter. There, he must save the village from the cruelty of the two-timing Godfrey, while earning the heart of the lady Marion herself.

The pairing of Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett as Robin and Marion, both Academy Award winners, was nothing short of splendid and praiseworthy. Although many Robin Hood films interpret the Lady Marion to be more of a gentlewoman, Blanchett brings the character of Marion out of the comfort zone of woman back in the Middle Ages, and proves that women play just as important of a role as men in the outcome of a battle scene. Russell Crowe\’s performance as Robin Hood is what I would have pictured the Robin of the day to be: hard but easy-going at times, honest and a bit comical, and always looking out for those he cares about. Other performances such as Oscar Isaac as Prince/King John, and Eileen Atkins as Eleanor of Aquitaine, Prince John\’s mother, were worthy of recognition also, since the legendary Robin Hood would be nothing without a villain to start him off on his journey, and the villain always needs a woman to give him advice, whether he takes it into consideration or not.

The battle scenes were well fought and a bit bloody, but that\’s what adds the dramatic suspense and vivid imagery to the movie. Many of the shots were of landscapes and shot in a cinematic view, making the viewer even more awed at the geography and tilt of the land of the time. The situations and events that the characters are put through were at times quite suspenseful and shocking even at times. But that is what makes such a good movie: heroes being put in situations that many of us would be terrified to even consider being put through.

The catch phrase or theme of the movie is “Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions”, which Robin finds engraved on the hilt of Loxley\’s sword. Taking upon himself the task of delivering a sword to a man whose son he barely knew, challenging the views of an unjust and greedy king, and defying the law to do what is right, these are the things that the Legendary Robin Hood was born from, and will continue to be remembered for in legend and in movie.