Robin's gone a hunting!

Stars: Russell Crowe(Body of Lies, State of Play)
Cate Blanchett(The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
Mark Strong(Sherlock Holmes, Kick-Ass)
Oscar Isaacs(Body of Lies, Balibo)
Max von Sydow(Rush Hour 3, Shutter Island)
Directed by: Ridley Scott
This drama is set in the later part of the twelfth century. The script had some problems and was rewritten a couple of times to the draft we see now.Director Ridley Scott has done a good job of recreating Nottingham and its surrounds.
Robin Longstride is going home from the third crusade weary of the ten years he has spent there fighting for his King and country. Richard the Lionheart has been killed in battle and Robin ,Will Scarlett, Little John and Alan A'Dale pose as knights to get back to England and go their separate ways. Robin has made a promise to return a sword to a knights father, Sir Walter of Loxley. Here he meets Lady Marian and sparks fly( although they don't hit it off at first!) Robin agrees to impersonate Robert Loxley which of course leads to trouble.
Overall this was a good 'prequel' with Cate Blanchett being quite strong in the role of Marian. Russell Crowe was good but not outstanding in his portrayal as the lead role. Mark Strong played a solid character as Sir Godfrey - one to watch out for ! Robin finishes the movie as the rest all start- and so the legend begins.
I give it 3.5 stars out of five.

Kick-Ass literally kicks ass!

Kick-Ass literally kicks ass!

Starring: Aaron Johnson(Nowhere Boy)
Christopher Mintz-Plasse(Role Models,Year One)
Chloe Moretz(500 Days of Summer,Diary of a Wimpy Kid)
Mark Strong(The Young Victoria,Sherlock Holmes)
Nicolas Cage(National Treasure:Book of Secrets,Knowing)
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake,Stardust)
This is a comedy/action adventure with a touch of violence for good measure. The film is based upon the Mark Miller comics and set in current times(how else could MySpace get free advertising?).
Dave Lisewski is an ordinary guy who decides to be a superhero even though he has nothing special about him. His first foray into the crime scene has him beaten,stabbed and run over - not a very good start! Undeterred Kick-Ass becomes a hero(of sorts) and ends up on YouTube.
While sorting out a little problem to get his love interest away from a not so savory character he meets Hit-Girl and Big Daddy - the real deal. Eventually he decides that crime fighting is best left to someone else but it isn't as easy as that!
I enjoyed this movie and even though the swearing was a little tough , an all-around good story was told. Christopher Mintz-Plasse played a good role as Chris D'Amico , son of the main protagonist in the story. The standout character was that of Hit-Girl, Chloe Moretz, a little pocket-rocket for giving the bad guys an absolute ass-kicking!
I give the movie 4 out 5 stars.