It won’t take long for you to realize whether or not this new Robin Hood is for you. No, I’m not talking about the weirdly goofy, self-referential narration that bookends the film. I’m talking about the bizarre opening sequence where we meet our hero, Robin (Taron Egerton) falling in love with Marian (Eve Hewson), except their romantic entanglement gets cut short when Robin receives a draft notice, and we hard cut to a him with a squad in the middle east, everyone holding their bow and arrow out, ready to fire, when they are suddenly being shot at by a weapon in the distance that shoots arrows like they’re 50 cal rounds. The whole sequence is shot, lit, and choreographed like it’s right out of a war movie set in Iraq. If those kind of odd aesthetics are something you’re willing to roll with, no questions asked, you might have a good time like I did.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. The story starts proper after the fact when Robin returns home only to find that he has long been pronounced dead, and his home confiscated by the Sheriff of Nottingham (Ben Mendelsohn). Even Marian is now married to a local ambitious activist, Will Tillman (Jamie Dornan). Robin sees how the Sheriff is stripping the locals of everything they have to support the war effort, and decides to do something about it, which he does so with the help of John (Jamie Foxx), a former prisoner-of-war with ties to Robin during the Crusades.
So…the film makes a few changes to the classic story, in case you haven’t noticed. I’m not entirely sure what the motivation behind these changes are, who they’re aiming at with these changes, and why? It’s made even stranger by the weird, and somewhat anachronistic aesthetics. It’s a medieval world, but it’s populated by beautiful people with beautiful clothing and pitch perfect makeup and hair. And just when you have a feeling that you’re overthinking it, the film has a shot of a woman’s pointed toe, high heel shoes front and center during a party scene halfway through the film. Again, I don’t know what the filmmakers are going for here, I’m not sure how intentional some of these choices are. But at least it was different, and it always kept me on my toes. It’s rare to see a blockbuster like this and never have a clue what crazy stuff they’re going to throw at you next. It’s oddly thrilling.
The film also makes many attempts to bring some semblance of relevancy, probably to earn some justification for its existence. It’s not particularly subtle when you first see the Sheriff delivers a speech early on where he essentially talks about the importance of keeping the bad hombres from the middle east away lest they come in and destroy the town and everyone in them. The Sheriff has a number of similar Trumpian tendencies, and his concerns for the people are purely for show while he serves the church, which frankly comes off so much worse than he does. It’s honestly a fascinating dynamic, and it’s delivered with some punch.
It also helps that the film is led by some talented actors. Usually a generic blockbuster will suck the charisma out of even the best performers, but the film actually gives Taron Egerton some room to breathe and be as charming as he can be. He’s a fun lead, he’s likable, he capable, but not a perfect, unstoppable machine. The same goes for John, although, I do wish the film spent more time with him and explored more about him aside from his relationship to Robin, especially considering the traumatic event he experiences early on, but rarely mentions again. Eve Hewson gets more to do than a typical love interest. However, my favorite performance is easily Mendelsohn as the Sheriff, who goes so hammy, it’s downright inspired. Plus, folks like Tim Minchin and F. Murray Abraham are always welcome.
I don’t know if I can call Robin Hood “good” in the traditional sense, but I was surprised by how much fun I had. The action is rock solid, occasionally too frenetic for its own good, but director, Otto Bathurst, brings in some neat stylistic flourishes. There’s an almost John Wick-ness to the way they handle the bow-and-arrow choreography, and it’s incredibly entertaining to watch unfold. I found the characters engaging, and the performances behind them kept me connected to the film even when things get a skosh convoluted. I doubt I’d ever see this again, but I definitely don’t regret seeing it. It simply has too many odd creative choices for me to ignore. I wouldn’t mind checking out the sequel, though. If it ever gets made that is.