ROBIN HOOD (2018) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

ROBIN HOOD (2018) movie

Genre              |   Action Adventure

Classification   |   M

Running time   |   116 minutes

Released         |   29 November 2018

cast

Taron Egerton ... Robin Hood
Ben Mendelsohn ... Sheriff of Nottingham
Jamie Foxx ... Little John
Jamie Dornan ... Will Scarlet
Paul Anderson ... Guy of Gisborne
Eve Hewson ... Maid Marian
​Josh Herdman ... Righteous

director

​Otto Bathurst

writer

Ben Chandler ... (screenplay)
David James Kelly

cinematographer

George Steel

music

​​Joseph Trapanese

film editor

​Chris Barwell

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box office result

Worldwide               $? million

Australia                 $? million

North America        $? million

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the best dialogue

x

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ROBIN HOOD (2018) MOVIE IMAGES

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ROBIN HOOD (2018) STORY SYNOPSIS

​A war-hardened Crusader and a Moorish commander mount an audacious revolt against the corrupt English crown in this thrilling action-adventure. Packed with gritty battlefield exploits, mind-blowing fight choreography and a timeless romance, this is the never-before-seen story of how Robin Hood became the icon and legend as we know him today.

ROBIN HOOD (2018) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 22 November 2018

​Pop ​Movee Rating

ROBIN HOOD is a fast, free-flowing affair that meshes the spirit of the classic tale with a visual style that sees Director Otto Bathurst take a leaf from the Guy Ritchie playbook, utilising fast-cutting, wide angles and extreme close-ups to create an energy that makes for a highly entertaining 116 minutes! The downside is a movie with eschews story for action, sacrificing the opportunity to showcase a highly talented supporting cast as the film’s producers walk the fine line between stand-alone adventure and franchise building mythology.

Bathurst’s film, with the screenplay credited to writers Ben Chandler and David James Kelly, compresses a lot of story into the film’s relatively polite running time. ROBIN HOOD delivers a  satisfactory origin story, along with the traditional face-off between Robin and the Sheriff of Nottingham. The film jettisons the traditional “band of merry men” in favour of a more contemporary approach, where characters form organic alliances based upon political expediency and social need. The “social conscience” is a tad on-the-nose at times, but doesn’t overstay its intrusions...

Taron Egerton plays the lead, the titular Robin of Loxley... While he doesn’t quite match the swagger of his Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin KINGSMAN character, Egerton plays Robin with the same fierce determination, standing up for those who are unable to defend themselves against oppression, greed and corruption. What he lacks in performance subtlety, he makes up for with sheer personality. Despite the character’s aristocratic background, Egerton makes him a likeable rogue from his opening scenes.

Central to the film is Robin’s relationship with Marian, played by Eve Hewson. The film wastes no time in bringing the pair together to form an idyllic romance, only to have it torn apart just as quickly. Robin receives notification that he has been conscripted to the religious Crusades, where he is forced to travel to the Middle East and fight in the name of the Catholic Church...

The story jumps forward five years, catching up with Robin, now a battle-hardened soldier who has had more than his fill of fighting for God...

The sortie to the Middle East is, arguably, the best ROBIN HOOD has to offer. Bathurst delivers a tension-filled sequence, where Robin, on patrol in a Moor-controlled village, chooses to help a fellow Crusader who has been abducted  by the local militia in an attempt to ambush Robin and his fellow soldiers. Despite the Medieval props, Bathurst stages the action like a contemporary Action film. Lots of movement, lots of close quarters fighting and a multitude of cuts make the scene memorable. It also introduces Jamie Foxx as a reinvented version of Little John…

Foxx is always so serious in every role he plays. “Attitude” seems permanently carved into his brow... In ROBIN HOOD, his character is a Moor fighter who crosses paths with Robin early in the story. Foxx’s character is captured and is forced to watch as Robin’s commander, Guy of Gisborne (Paul Anderson) murder his son, but not before Robin himself commits treason in an effort to save the boy’s life. “Little John” stows away aboard the ship upon which Robin is transported back to England and, upon arrival back in Nottingham, takes the opportunity to befriend Robin.

Much like the first KINGSMAN film, Foxx’s John fills much the same role as Colin Firth’s Harry Hart, mentoring Egerton’s character in the art of war, along the way, forcing him to challenge his personal desires in favour of the greater good.

Understandably, Robin’s long absence from Nottingham have seen him declared dead by Ben Mendelsohn’s corrupt Sheriff; losing not just his possessions, but the love of his life - Marian…

Upon his return to Nottingham, Robin soon discovers that Marian is now romantically involved with Will Scarlet, played by FIFTY SHADES OF GREY actor Jamie Dornan. It’s a bitter pill for Robin to swallow, but Little John frees him from his emotional despair, forcing him to concentrate his efforts to curry favour with the Sheriff in order to wage a guerilla war from inside Nottingham’s elite social circle to bring about the end of the war effort aimed at John’s Muslim brothers back in his homeland.

Writers Chandler and Kelly have certainly taken a risk by presenting an Islamic terrorist in such a positive way… It’s hard to believe this was anything other than intentional on their part. Little John’s background also proves a little hard to digest in terms of his continuing presence throughout the film. The film would have the viewer believe that Foxx’s character, who, in reality, would not have been able to speak English, befriend an Englishman and hang around with him in his home town without anyone asking any questions about who he is and where he is from. It’s a little bit of a stretch…

The real highlight of ROBIN HOOD is Ben Mendelsohn.

For so long, he was a presence on Australian TV screens, starting his career as a teenager back in 1984. THE HENDERSON KIDS, A COUNTRY PRACTICE, NEIGHBOURS, THE FLYING DOCTORS, THE SECRET LIFE OF US… It was his turn as Andrew ‘Pope’ Cody in the 2010 Crime Drama ANIMAL KINGDOM that brought him to the attention of film audiences around the globe. Since then, Mendelsohn has become one of the most sought after character actors working in the entertainment industry.
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, EXODUS: GODS & KINGS, ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY and, earlier in 2018, Steven Spielberg’s READY PLAYER ONE. He will also appear in the next Marvel Studios film CAPTAIN MARVEL as the Skrull fighting machine, Talos!

In ROBIN HOOD, Mendelsohn chews the scenery and enjoys every second of it… Early in the film, it feels like he’s going to be a pantomime, one-note villain capable of nothing more than spitting and hissing at all those around him. As the story progresses, the Sheriff reveals himself to be a much darker character. His musings about how to best dispose of the clergymen who stand in his way is an especially disturbing exchange. He displays a special talent for maligning and belittling Tim Minchin’s Friar Tuck, whose efforts to keep the Sheriff’s war effort running seem to go unappreciated by his master.

Perhaps most disappointing, with the exception of Mendelsohn, is the film’s lack of inventiveness in using such a talented supporting cast in a more meaningful way. Besides Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx, the roles of Jamie Dornan, Tim Minchin, Eve Hewson and F. Murray Abraham seem slight by comparison. If you’re going to get someone like Abraham to be in your film, you’d better have a damned good role for him! (Having said that, Abraham is known for his honesty when it comes to admitting that he takes roles for no other reason than to pay the bills. Perhaps ROBIN HOOD was one of those roles…)

ROBIN HOOD makes a valiant effort to deliver something that is both a broad slice of entertainment, but also a unique offering that is more than a straight forward remake of previous incarnations.

The film succeeds more than it fails, but the finale is a messy and many of the narrative seeds planted throughout the story fail to bloom in a cohesive manner. Had Bathurst maintained the discipline and innovation of the film’s opening sequences, ROBIN HOOD could very well have been something very special. Given the finished product, ROBIN HOOD is going to have one hell of a time taking enough loot from cashed-up cinema patrons and giving back to its financiers to cover the cost of this escapade, let alone any future Sherwood tales.

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ROBIN HOOD (2018) USEFUL LINKS

Robin Hood (2018 film) - Wikipedia
​Robin Hood (2018) - IMDb
​Robin Hood (2018) - Rotten Tomatoes

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