It was not until 2008 that Scott opted for a more conventional viewpoint and brought in Brian Helgeland to do further re-writes. But over a two-year period the script was re-written, shifting the narrative onto one of Robin starting as the Sheriff before becoming an outlaw. The film was originally titled Nottingham, with the story focussing on a love triangle between Robin, Marian and the eponymous Sheriff. There is much less of this coherency in Robin Hood, something which could be attributed to the film's troubled production.
For all the problems with Kingdom of Heaven, it does hang together as a political thesis which (in its director's cut at least) makes an alternative view of history very accessible. The film is a sister project of Kingdom of Heaven because of its setting around the Crusades and its prominent attempt to combine high politics with intimate drama. And there is much about his version of Robin Hood which we have seen done before and better. Having been such a trailblazer in his early years, Scott is increasingly a 'bandwagon director', following film trends rather than making them. But though much of his talent and creativity remains on screen, this is a disappointing film, which fails to marry action and drama half as well as in Scott's previous ventures. Having previously left us underwhelmed with Kingdom of Heaven, Ridley Scott returns to the world of epic warfare with a revisionist prequel-of-sorts in Robin Hood. There's only so many times you can put 'from the director of Gladiator' on a poster before the brand begins to get tarnished. Starring Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong, Max von Sydow
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