Review of Beyond Sherwood Forest (2009) by Bobby L — 17 May 2010

Made for TV Canadian film, that adds a fun, fantastical twist to the classic "Robin Hood" story. There's a brief prologue, which serves to explain why he become the "Robin Hood" we all know. Once we pick back up, a few years later, he's already him, so unlike a lot of the other versions, we skip the becoming, and get straight to the point.

Yes, Richard is still off on the crusades, and Nottingham and Prince John are still bastards, but what separates this one from others, magic. Lots of it. From shapeshifting to spell casting, this movie has fun playing up these elements, ones not really seen in this story before. The flying effects look really bad though, which is sad. The dragon never seem to be in the same space as the sky, and/ or the object it's hurling/ being thrown at him. The designs are solid though, and they move fluidly. On ground the dragon does look very good, with a nice amount of detail.

Robin Dunne, as Robin Hood, is very good. I find him to be a surprisingly strong actor, even in weak films; see his excellent job in The Skulls 2 to how good he truly can be. Here, he fires an arrow quite well, and makes for a solid leader, which is all that was necessary. Erica Durance as Marian has some really fun bits, and looks good doing it. Katherine Isabelle, most notable for being Ginger the brilliant "Ginger Snaps" trilogy plays Alina, the were-dragon at the heart of the story. She's good, as always, but doesn't have much to do. Sidenote- any time her name is attached to a project, it immediately becomes 110% more awesome.

The rest of the cast all do decent jobs, with no standouts though.

The sets look pretty good, and the landscape evokes the time period very well. The lighting shifts between good and over/under exposed at times, but it doesn't distract for long.