Fantasy Flix: Robin Hood

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Beyond Sherwood Forest (2009)

England 1174: King Richard is away fighting the Crusade, his brother Prince John has been left in charge. In order to further international diplomatic relations with Austria, the beautiful young Maid Marian is to be married off to a prince. A cursed girl who can change into a ferocious dragon is used to find and pacify Robin Hood.

Here we have another fantasy flick for Syfy. Now, I'm generally easily impressed when it comes to my fantasy films. All you really have to do is not bore me to death. To that, I give this film a big ehh..

I really am torn here. I really want to like this movie for many reasons. First, it's a Robin Hood tale, and I love me some Robin Hood. Second, it's directed by Peter DeLuise, who is responsible for most of my beloved Stargate SG-1. Third, It's got alot of faces that I recognize... Robin Dunne (Sanctuary), Erica Durance (Smallville), Julian Sands (Lots of shit), Mark Gibbon (Smallville and Stargate), Bill Dow (Stargate) etc.

So, the question is, can these faces make up for the lackluster story and unfortunately the answer is no. Actually, the story isn't so bad. I think it's just poorly executed. I can't entirely blame Peter DeLuise, I think he just didn't have enough to work with. I believe the whole thing was shot in just a few weeks.

The action isn't horrible, what IS horrible is the action with the dragon on the green screen. The "dragon" doesn't look half bad, but the interaction with it with the cast is terrible.

The cast, as I said, isn't horrible either. (The British accents are horrible, but the cast isn't) I am not a big fan of Eric Durance, but she's not bad here, just boring.

Overall the story isn't bad, the acting isn't bad, the effects aren't bad, the action isn't bad, but somehow the movie is... well... kinda bad. It's really hard to put a finger on. Give it a try and see what you think.

Verdict: Eh...

The Cast

Robin Dunne ... Robin Hood

Erica Durance ... Maid Marian

Julian Sands ... Malcolm

Mark Gibbon ... Little John

Richard de Klerk ... Will Scarlet

Bill Dow ... Friar Tuck

Cainan Wiebe ... Gareth

Brent Stait ... Guy of Gisborne

David Palffy ... Sylvan Elder

Katharine Isabelle ... Alina

David Richmond-Peck ... Prince John

Robert Lawrenson ... William

Anna Louise Sargeant ... Young Marian

Frederique De Raucourt ... Little Girl Alina

John Novak ... Roland

Dolores Drake ... Female Cook

Rowen Kahn ... Young Robin Hood

Terence Kelly ... Fitzwater

Tony Morelli ... Butcher

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Robin Hood (TV series) (2006)

Creators: Foz Allan, Dominic Minghella

This is probably the best Robin Hood i've seen. It's very light hearted, yet very entertaining. Don't go into this thinking you're gonna get a Robin from the recent Russell Crowe movie. If you've seen the recent Merlin tv series from the BBC, it's similar to that in theme and feeling. I was very leary of Jonas Armstrong as Robin at first, but he definitely grew on me.

If I have any complaints it is that Robin and his gang are always getting captured and held in the castle, yet they always escape. Almost to the point where It's 'too' unbelievable.

The first two seasons are quite different from the third. Most stories involving Marian and defying the sheriff and Guy. In the third season, we loose Marian, and Isabella is introduced as a Marian replacement. Don't think this a bad thing, Isabella is much better looking and easier on the eyes. I could never get past Marian's chin. Also, the main protagonist is changed when Prince John enters the show. Personally I think season three is just as good, if not better than the first two.

I would definitely recomend Robin Hood from the BBC for any who enjoy Merlin, and light hearted fair like Legend of the Seeker or Hercules and Xena.

The Cast