We have a winner.

Today was the usual Saturday routine: I wasn't starting work until 12 but had to be in town at 9:30 due to buses. Unlike last week though, I spent my time in charity shops as opposed to HMV, so my spending was far more modest thankfully.

Work was moderately busy today. It was actually a pretty good day; I had a good laugh with everyone and nothing really put a downer on the day.

This evening quite a few of us went to see Robin Hood. I was looking forward to it because the trailer makes it seem a lot like Gladiator; one of my favourite films. It turned out to be very little like Gladiator in that it doesn't take itself 100% seriously with very clear comedy that manages to stay far away from making a farce of the dramatic elements of the movie, or feel at all forced. It is essentially an "origin movie" for Robin, giving a potential backstory for the character. It is done very well, as some elements are completely obvious, for example him getting with Maid Marian, so they play on it; they know that we know it'll happen but it's matter of when and how, and they tease you until it finally does happen. For a story that everyone knows the outcome to, they have still managed to create a gripping plot with sub-elements introduced to keep you guessing a bit more.
The cast are all excellent. Russel Crowe doesn't have long hair as many have pointed out, but in this depiction of Robin Hood, he plays it perfectly. There's been controversy about his accent lately, but I think that most of the time he's convincing. There is one scene near the beginning where a twinge of Irish creeps in, but other than that he's got a fine accent as far as I'm aware. King John's actor gives possibly my favourite performance of the movie, making it clear that he is totally incompetent and dim-witted creating many comedic moments, yet still managing to show that he is still the King, thus very powerful and to be feared. It's a very tight balance that the actor and Ridley Scott have controlled perfectly. One thing that Ridley Scott delivers once again similar to Gladiator is fantastic battle and fight scenes that manage to maintain a large-scale power and excitement whilst simultaneously portraying the horror the individual characters are suffering, AND keeping the plot moving along. I was very disappointed for the first third of the film that the music wasn't by Hanz Zimmer. His music has such a powerful edge to it that it suits Scott's style of movie perfectly. However, I did eventually get used to the different style, and as soon as I did this I noticed how apt it is to the film with the use of many traditional English Folk instruments and a general tonality of Folk music. The aptness isn't so clear in the first third as the film is set in France for this time, but once it reaches the English villages and courts it matches perfectly. It would have been so easy to revert to his favourite composer and it would have worked, but the brave decision to try something different turned out totally the right thing to do. I can't really fault anything with it, but due to it lacking the raw power of Gladiator I can't give it a full 10/10. It is definitely a very strong 9/10 however, because it doesn't try to have this power. It's entirely down to my preference that I take that mark off, so rest assured that it is a fantastic movie that I don't see fading into obscurity in a few months as so many recent releases undoubtedly will.

It's certainly been a decent day, topped off with finally getting round to purchasing train tickets for me and Darroch to get to Edinburgh for Marina and the Diamonds in two weeks.