Richard the Lionheart owes most of his modern day fame from cherished stories in which he scarcely appears. I'm speaking, of course, of Robin Hood, whose story takes place when Richard the Lionheart was off fighting Holy Wars, leaving England to his brother, Prince John. Here's a twist: Lionheart is also a story that does not feature Richard the Lionheart and yet does not feature Robin Hood either. It's about a young knight who wants to join the crusades. Along the way, he meets up with a pair of amiable thieves and still later with a band of children running away from a character called the Black Knight, who captures children and sells them as slaves. Unfortunately, the characters aren't strong or interesting enough to sustain interest -- or to ground the film with a sense of reality.