British History in Film | Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) and Robin Hood (2010)

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)



This one gets laughed at quite a bit, but I love it, even with its American Robin Hood. That has a lot to do with Alan Rickman, of course, though his Sheriff crosses from merely ambitiously evil into some truly creepy and despicable territory. That's the script and not Rickman's performance, but it does keep me from wholeheartedly enjoying that character.

I also love Michael Kamen's score and even the cheesy Brian Adams song, "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You." It's the one Brian Adams song I've ever liked, but I like it without reservation. Probably because of it's association with this movie.

On top of all that are some great set pieces. There's plenty not to like, too, but over all it's the big budget, spectacular Robin Hood that I wanted and it still holds up.

Robin Hood (2010)



It's barely a Robin Hood movie, but I still enjoy it as simply a medieval adventure. Ridley Scott is always visually exciting and I'm a huge fan of most of the cast from Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett to Max von Sydow, Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac, Mark Addy, Matthew Macfadyen, Kevin Durand, and Léa Seydoux. I even really like William Hurt in it and that's not something I can usually say about his movies. Also, the music is great, thanks to musician/actor (and appropriately named) Alan Doyle as the minstrel Allan A'Dayle.

Something interesting that Scott's movie does is place the action after the death of King Richard. Prince John is now King John, but no less spoiled and oppressive. Next week, we'll check in on him again during his later reign via Shakespeare.

10 Movies I Dug from 2014

20. The Maze Runner



I was a bit disappointed that The Maze Runner is more interested in setting up a series than in telling a complete story on its own, but even though it's only a partial story, it tells it in a captivating way. I love how it dumped me into the world cold and made me learn about it along with the main character. And the supporting characters and group dynamics all held my attention, too. Towards the end, the movie gets ridiculous about withholding information to prolong suspense, but I like everything else enough that I'm looking forward to the sequel.

19. John Wick



Total surprise. I knew nothing about this before it came out and if I had known about it, I probably would've ignored it. I enjoy Keanu Reeves most when he's playing air guitar with Alex Winter, not as the wooden tough guy. Some positive reviews piqued my interest though, and I agree with them that John Wick is a fun and exciting movie that almost parodies '80s action flicks, but really ends up just hugging them.

18. Muppets Most Wanted



As a sequel to The Muppets, this was very disappointing. That movie set a high bar and I'm not sure that Muppets Most Wanted even tried to top it. As Muppet films go, it's average; neither among the best nor the worst. If I let it stand on its own though and compare it to most of the other movies I saw this year, its still very funny (especially the Ty Burrell/Sam the Eagle team-up) and I had a great time watching it.

17. The Expendables 3



I didn't enjoy the first Expendables movie really at all, except for the novelty of seeing those actors together in a single film. I was disappointed by the plot and by how little Bruce Willis and Schwarzenegger were in it. The Expendables 2 was a lot better, but Chuck Norris' goofy, squeezed-in-sideways cameo was a big downer. The Expendables 3 was the one I've been waiting for. Lots of my favorite action stars and some of them in small roles, but those small roles made sense for the story and everyone had at least one great moment. The story itself is nothing special, but man I love these actors and the final showdown is a legitimately great set piece.

16. Grand Piano



Like a few other movies on my lists this year, Grand Piano is technically a 2013 release, but I'm going by the dates the movies were made available to people in the US outside of just New York, LA, and film festivals. Grand Piano isn't a perfect thriller, but it's a really good one with Elijah Wood as a troubled pianist who has to save himself and others while playing a concert and not missing a single note. It's overrating it to compare it to Hitchcock's best work, but if you like Hitchcock-like thrillers with normal people trying to make it through someone else's outlandish scheme, I highly recommend this one.

15. Neighbors



Hilarious, but also surprisingly poignant. Could have just been a Revenge of the Nerds-style war between squares and popular people, but instead it takes the time to explore fears of growing up, on both sides of the battle lines.

14. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For



Coming out nine years after the first one killed this movie. If it had been released in 2006 or so, it would have been embraced as more of what people liked about Sin City. There's not a thing wrong with it that wasn't also wrong with the first one; it's a perfectly good companion piece. But waiting so long gave people the chance to forget the first one and wonder, "Why make a sequel now?" It feels kind of pointless. Unless of course you really dug the first one and are glad to have another movie just like it. Which is where I'm sitting.

13. Interstellar



Interstellar is both way more and way less than I wanted it to be. There's a lot going on in it, but at just under three hours long, it still doesn't pay enough attention to any of it's many characters and themes. There are things that I love, like Matthew McConaughey's relationship with his young daughter, and the questions the movie raises about the limits of selflessness and altruism. Sadly, it never develops these very well. But I like it for trying, I like it for its awesome cast, and I like it for its stunning visuals and unforgettable set pieces. I wish the final picture was better, but it's pieces are amazing.

12. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit



I almost forgot I reviewed this one, but I did, so I'll send you there. Short version is that the plot is pretty boilerplate (as is Kenneth Branagh's villain, sadly), but I like that Chris Pine's Jack Ryan is still an analyst first and gets dragged into the spy stuff sort of kicking and screaming. What makes the movie though are Keira Knightley and Kevin Costner, who bring a lot of heart and depth to characters who could have been nothing.

11. 22 Jump Street



As much as I was pleasantly surprised by 21 Jump Street, that's exactly why I wasn't excited about the sequel. Now that I knew what to expect, how could 22 Jump Street possibly surprise me again? Wouldn't it just be more of the same? Well, yeah, except that "the same" means that it's still really funny and has a pair of completely lovable leads. It screws around with the formula of the first one though just enough to be fresh and it also adds some great new actors (especially Jillian Bell who nearly steals the movie).

10 Movies I Could Take or Leave from 2014

30. Winter's Tale



This movie tries so hard to push all my buttons. It's beautifully shot and has lots of things I love: immortals, romance, a non-linear narrative, and a powerful twist. It's the twist that bothers me though. Winter's Tale did such a nice job of investing me in one kind of story that when the twist came, I wasn't just unprepared for it, I actually resented it. Sadly, not sticking the landing on stories I otherwise really enjoyed is going to be a recurring theme in this post.

29. Under the Skin



I wrote a full review of Under the Skin, but the short version is that I found it intellectually interesting, but was never emotionally invested in Scarlett Johansson's character.

28. Non-Stop



It's a tense thriller that showcases everything I like about Liam Neeson as an action hero, but the plot feels forced along by some dumb decisions and then the whole movie goes completely off the rails when the villain's unbelievable motivations are revealed.

27. The Amazing Spider-Man 2



I really, truly love Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone as Peter and Gwen and it's frustrating that they're in such stupid plots with such boring, poorly drawn villains. Garfield and Stone make it impossible for me to hate this movie, but I can't bring myself to like it either.

26. 3 Days to Kill



Frankly, I get this one a little confused with The November Man. Both are about aging assassins who need to protect young women, but 3 Days to Kill is the better one. Amber Heard is pretty ridiculous as the person who pulls Kevin Costner back into the spy game, but she's kind of fun too and I enjoyed Costner's character and his relationship with his daughter (Hailee Steinfeld). It's not a great spy thriller, but it's a good B-movie and I'm glad to see Costner back this year in some fun roles.

25. Mr. Peabody and Sherman



The drama that threatens Peabody and Sherman's relationship is forced and clunky and I felt nothing about the lessons either of them learned about each other. But there are some really funny gags and I laughed out loud quite a bit. Wish there had been even more of that.

24. Edge of Tomorrow



Another movie that's awesome right up until the end where it falls apart. There's been a lot of love heaped on this movie this year and mostly I think it's deserved. Cruise's character is pleasantly against stereotype for him, Blunt is totally badass, and the way the movie structures its live-die-repeat sequences is ingenious. But the movie has no idea how to end itself and simply stumbles its way through the last act to get to the closing credits. I ding it heavily for that.

23. Only Lovers Left Alive



Like Under the Skin, this is another that I reviewed for Halloween. I like it better than Under the Skin, because Swinton and Hiddleston's characters are so generous about giving me things to connect with. And unlike Lucy, it has some profound thoughts about the purpose of human existence. But I don't think it's re-watchable for me. I enjoyed the time I spent with the characters, but not enough to want to do it again, so that makes it a good movie that I'll probably forget about in a year.

22. 300: Rise of an Empire



I had really low expectations for this, so that's probably why I was as pleasantly surprised as I was. It isn't visually unique like the first 300 (which I guess is no longer unique either now that it's been imitated a bunch of times) and the story isn't as compelling, but it's got a decent plot and Eva Green is awesome as the scene-chewing villain Artemisia.

21. Gone Girl



I probably need to give Gone Girl another look to see if I like it better, but I had a hard time with it the first go. I get the commentary on modern news media and the way it turns people's tragedies into consumable pop culture, but I don't feel like that commentary was anything new or insightful. I totally agree that that's what the news does and that we let it do that, so I don't know how much more there is to say. Far more interesting is the idea of masks and how we hide our true selves from other people, including folks we're supposed to be in honest relationships with. I love thinking about that, but struggled with the point of view that Gone Girl seems to take on it. I appreciate that my struggle is exactly what the film wants from me, but like Winter's Tale, that came out of nowhere and threw me off guard. Unlike Winter's Tale, Gone Girl is very artful about pulling the rug out from underneath me, so I'm enjoying still mulling it over all these months later. If this were a Best of 2014 list instead of a ranking of how much I liked these movies, Gone Girl would place a lot higher.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

My expectations for the new Jack Ryan movie were really stinking low. I've enjoyed the couple of Tom Clancy novels I've read (Clear and Present Danger and Without Remorse), but I wouldn't exactly call myself a fan of the books. I loved the first three movies based on them though. Hunt for Red October is a great thriller and Alec Baldwin's Jack Ryan is a different kind of hero: an analyst who prefers to think his way out of problems rather than use violence. Hiring middle-aged Harrison Ford for Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger made a lot of sense then, letting the character continue to be an intellectual instead of an action star.

I never saw Sum of All Fears, partly because I'm not super fond of Ben Affleck as an actor, but also because I hated the concept of de-aging Jack Ryan. I was afraid that he'd become just another actiony superspy. I still have no idea if that was true for Sum of All Fears, though no one's ever recommended it to me as a must-watch, but it was also my fear for Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. It felt like such a cynical gimmick for Paramount to reboot the series, like they wanted their own Bond or Bourne series and this was the way they were going to get it. If it hadn't been for the cast, I wouldn't have even bothered with it.

I can take or leave Chris Pine, but Keira Knightley and Kenneth Branagh are people I love. I'll watch pretty much anything with either of them in it. I'm also interested in Kevin Costner at this stage of his career. I was hot and cold on him in early days (mostly cold except for The Untouchables and maybe Bull Durham), but in spite of the huge problems I had with the way Pa Kent was written in Man of Steel, there were no issues with the way Costner played him. I was looking forward to seeing him mentor Pine in Jack Ryan.