In addition to unveiling two new photo stills from the set of Robin Hood, Universal on Monday saw its first trailer for Ridley Scott's revisionist action epic released into the wild. I don't know what we all should have been expecting, but if you had "loud 90-second car commercial-meets-Gladiator" on your own prediction scorecard, please step forth and collect your winnings!
Don't take that pejoratively, either. One good multi-Oscar-winning, $467 million-grossing turn deserves another, and whatever medieval-era ambitions Scott botched with Kingdom of Heaven, he clearly has no intention of botching here. The misty, fetishized slo-mo and quick cuts are kind of self-parody in a way, but Crowe's growling, up-from-the-ocean bandit prince induces too much nostalgia to be too resentful of its redundancy. So Maximus is amphibious now? Great! Expert with a sword and an arrow? Terrific! Has his iPod on shuffle through great hard-rock hits of the '00s? It had to happen eventually. Be annoyed, but don't say you didn't see it coming -- or won't see it next spring.
VERDICT: Sold, with reservations.
ยท Robin Hood [Trailer Addict]