Talkie Zoo: ROBIN HOOD

I've read mixed reviews for this movie. My own opinion is that it's a very good story about Robin Longstride before he totally became an outlaw. Robin Hood (2010; PG013) is set in 13th century England. Knights and soldiers are returning from the Crusades to an England that is robbing the nation in taxes, leaving the poor even poorer. What's been brought back from the Middle East by the few surviving Crusaders -- tea tree oil for acne, gold, jewels, spices -- is immediately confiscated by the Crown, which has been passed to a young and very selfish heir.

We see all the characters we are familiar with from the story of Robin Hood - Little John, Friar Tuck, Maid Marion and others -- in a setting which came before they banded together. They aren't teenage rebels in this film, but men who have seen the bitter side of life, the ravages of a 10 year long crusade, and the fallout that results from extreme greed and cruelty.