Ridley Scott has never been one to cushion the blow when it comes to sticking it to modern consumerist society. From "Blade Runner" to "Thelma & Louise," "Black Hawk Down" to "American Gangster," the diseases of so-called civilization become exposed in tableaux of greed, discontent and a cunningly concealed sadism.
Against resplendent sets and lit by gorgeous lighting, Scott's characters often wallow in violence — by choice or otherwise — with no way out except through more violence, preferably stylish and rife with innuendo. Scott's depictions of modern society are fraught with double entendres: The outer layer is thickly coated with abundance and power; peel it back and we see the rotting dreck underneath. The genius of the man is that he makes it all so entertaining, so visually rewarding.
Scott's latest to land on these shores is "Robin Hood," whom you may know as the proto-punk rebel who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, making his own point about consumerism.