When it was announced that Robin Hood was being remade, again, this time by Lionsgate and starring Taron Egerton as Robin along with Jamie Foxx as Little John, I immediately dismissed it as trash. I know that’s really cynical of me, but I knew right away this was unlikely to be a renaissance for Robin Hood at the box office.
Most us here at LRM still maintain the best version of Robin Hood was the Disney animated movie, and yes I include Prince of Thieves in that list, a movie saved by Alan Rickman having the time of his life as the Sheriff of Nottingham.
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So let’s get right to it shall we, here are a round up of some reviews of the movies from various trades and outlets. I did try my best to find something quite positive, but the overwhelming negative consensus made that tough to do.
Robin Hood won’t steal any hearts, nor should it rob you of your valuable time when there are so many better versions to choose from.
Ouch, short and bitter.
Robin Hood perhaps sticks a little too closely to the origin formula of superhero movies, especially since moviegoers have seen so many in the last decade, but the third act takes the story in a different direction. Although there are moments when the script and directing struggle to deliver a blockbuster worthy of IMAX (so that this movie isn’t quite worth seeing in IMAX), the performances of the cast help smooth out the rough edges. Altogether, Robin Hood is a entertaining movie experience, with enough new ideas to set it apart from past adaptations of the folktale, some cool archery action and a charming-as-hell lead in Egerton.
The best review I could find, it gets worse from here.
First-time feature director Otto Bathurst won his stripes with the (in)famous first episode of Black Mirror, “The National Anthem,” in which a British prime minister is blackmailed into having sex with a pig on national television, and went on from there to launch Peaky Blinders. He’s had no such beginner’s luck with his feature debut, so the sooner he leaves it behind the better. And it’s fair warning to anyone else thinking of using mid-career Guy Ritchie as a stylistic role model.
If only this anti-establishment action saga weren’t so totally in love with the establishment it claims to despise. If only it weren’t so desperate to be the foundation of a cinematic universe that it treats Little John meeting Friar Tuck (Tim Minchin) like they’re in the post-credits scene of a Marvel movie — like you’re supposed to get a chill down your spine at the sight of a homicidal Moor befriending a manic clergyman. Chandler and Kelly go to incredible lengths to set up a sequel, but even more incredible is how the film genuinely seems to believe that people might want to see where this story goes next.
If they’ve just ripped off Robin’s story and renamed the characters, it would still be a shoddy piece of work, but we wouldn’t be compelled to compare it to those Robins which precede it. This singularly fails to swashbuckle in the manner of 1939 classic, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and Egerton has as much in common with Hollywood legend, Errol Flynn, as I do. Even Ridley Scott’s dour 2010 take has a meaty sense of historical purpose and some magnificent visuals typical of the director. This is an abomination worse than Guy Ritchie’s recent King Arthur and as bad as Assassin’s Creed, wildly misfiring and always off target.
Nottingham is funded by mines that didn’t exist in England at that time, and populated by people who wear American Apparel beanies and glasses and visit buildings made of concrete. A Knight’s Tale made those kinds of anachronisms work because it was steeped in the actual history surrounding jousting and classism in the Middle Ages. But Robin Hood just really wants to show you what a wagon chase/arrow shootout in an industrial yard would look like. It’s simply another action movie desperately hoping to spawn a franchise, despite doing nothing to justify one.
So there you go, if you are choosing what movies to watch this holiday weekend, then by all accounts it is best to avoid Robin Hood. But let’s face it, you probably figured that one out for yourselves anyway.
Anyone plan to ignore the consensus and watch this anyway this weekend, or already seen it and disagree with all these reviews? Fire your arrows in the shooting range below as always.
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SOURCE: Various linked above
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