Robin Hood (2018)

Robin Hood is one of those stories that has been told so many times that another traditional adaptation probably would have struggled to justify its existence. Thankfully, or perhaps unfortunately depending on your taste, the 2018 version has absolutely no interest in being traditional. This is without doubt the least conventional Robin Hood movie I have seen. If you are going into this expecting the standard medieval adventure filled with muddy villages, men in tights and a heroic outlaw hiding amongst the trees of Sherwood Forest, I really do not think this movie will be for you. Director Otto Bathurst takes the familiar story and throws it into something far more exaggerated, stylish and ridiculous. It is certainly not going to work for everyone, but if all you want is a dumb, fun two hour action movie, Robin Hood certainly ticks that box.

The easiest way I can describe the style is that Robin Hood has this strange rock and roll grunge feeling running through it. In fact, the only movie I can really compare it to is Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, which arrived the previous year, just without all the magic and fantasy elements. Both movies take a famous English legend and inject it with modern blockbuster energy, contemporary attitudes and visuals that deliberately feel out of place for the period. The difference is that King Arthur has its fantasy elements to justify some of its crazier choices, whereas Robin Hood attempts a similar approach in a world that is supposedly more grounded. Everything is fast, loud and deliberately heightened, almost as though someone has taken a medieval story and filtered it through a modern action movie. Nottingham itself has this almost dystopian quality to it, particularly with the industrial looking streets, oppressive authorities and the contrast between the wealthy and those living in poverty. It gives this version of Robin Hood an identity that separates it from previous adaptations, even if that identity occasionally feels completely bonkers.

That unusual approach extends to the costume design, which might be one of the strangest elements of the entire movie. Looking at what Robin actually wears, I genuinely do not know what period some of these outfits are supposed to belong to. There are blazers, fitted jackets and coats that look like they could have come straight out of a modern designer catalogue, only altered just enough to vaguely suggest medieval clothing. Taron Egerton spends portions of the movie looking less like a medieval nobleman and more like someone attending a particularly extravagant fashion event. It is stylish, and some of the outfits genuinely look great, but historically convincing they most certainly are not. That creates this weird tonal confusion where the movie clearly wants us to recognise medieval England while simultaneously making almost no effort to actually look like medieval England. I can completely understand somebody hating that choice, but strangely, it also contributes to the movie’s personality.

Where Robin Hood does deliver is with its action. The opening sequence in the Middle East immediately establishes the kind of movie we are getting, and once you accept how ridiculous it can be, there is plenty of entertainment to be had. Taron Egerton is particularly impressive whenever Robin gets a bow in his hands. He is quick firing arrows, grabbing multiple arrows at once and switching targets at ridiculous speed. I have no idea how much of this was actually Egerton and how much involved stunt performers, editing or visual effects, but the finished product looks awesome. There is a speed and aggression to the archery that makes these sequences far more exciting than they probably have any right to be, and watching Robin rapidly fire his way through groups of enemies is easily one of the movie’s biggest strengths.

The relationship between Robin and Little John also gives the movie some much needed personality. Egerton and Jamie Foxx have good chemistry together, particularly during the training sequences where John is attempting to turn Robin into the fighter he needs him to become. Foxx plays John as the much more hardened and experienced of the two, while Egerton brings a cockiness to Robin that creates some genuinely funny exchanges between them. Their comedic moments help break up all the seriousness surrounding the rebellion and give us a partnership that is actually enjoyable to spend time with. Watching John become increasingly frustrated with Robin during his training is entertaining, but there is also a believable respect that gradually develops between them. Their friendship ultimately becomes one of the more enjoyable elements of the movie.

Egerton himself makes for a likeable Robin, and the supporting cast generally do a fine job around him. Eve Hewson works well as Marian, while Paul Anderson and Tim Minchin both make the most of their supporting roles. Then you have Ben Mendelsohn as the Sheriff of Nottingham, and let’s face it, Mendelsohn knows exactly how to play a villain. He has that ability to make a character feel slimy, arrogant and threatening without needing to completely lose control. Unfortunately, Jamie Dornan is easily the weakest member of the main cast for me. His performance as Will Scarlet feels surprisingly flat, particularly alongside actors who are clearly embracing the heightened nature of the movie. There are moments where it almost feels as though everyone else knows what kind of film they are making while Dornan would rather be somewhere else.

Visually, the movie generally looks good, but there is surprisingly little scope considering the size of the story it is attempting to tell. The entire adventure essentially revolves around four major locations. You have Nottingham, Loxley Manor, the Middle East during the opening section and the mining settlement where much of the poorer population lives and works. That is pretty much your lot. For a movie trying to present this huge rebellion against corruption and oppression, the world surrounding these characters can feel strangely small. The mines are particularly odd because the movie spends a fair amount of time there without ever really explaining what is actually being mined. We know the poor are forced to live and work in this harsh industrial environment, and visually it helps reinforce that dystopian atmosphere, but what are they actually digging for? The movie seems far more interested in how the location looks and what it represents than explaining what purpose it actually serves.

Unfortunately, not everything looks quite as polished. Some of the CGI is noticeably poor, and the horses are the biggest offender. This becomes especially obvious whenever we see characters riding to or from Loxley Manor. There are shots where the movement of the horses and riders simply does not look convincing, which is bizarre considering this is a Robin Hood movie rather than some enormous fantasy spectacle filled with dragons and monsters. You would think believable horses would be fairly high on the priority list. It never completely ruins the movie, but once you notice it, it becomes difficult not to spot whenever another questionable effects shot appears.

The story itself is about as subtle as the action. Robin returns home from war to discover that his estate has been seized and Nottingham is being crushed under the Sheriff’s increasingly brutal rule. From there, he essentially creates two identities. By day he remains Robin of Loxley, infiltrating the Sheriff’s circle, while secretly becoming the Hood and stealing from the rich to inspire the people. There are political ideas floating around involving taxation, war, poverty, corruption and the exploitation of ordinary people, but Robin Hood is never particularly interested in exploring any of them beyond what is required to keep the story moving. There is also very little downtime. The movie races from one sequence to another and barely gives you enough time to question how ridiculous something is before something else happens. In this particular case, I actually think that works in its favour. Robin Hood knows the type of entertainment it wants to provide and rarely slows down long enough to become boring.

There is also something strangely admirable about just how committed Robin Hood is to its own identity. This could have been another safe retelling of a story everybody already knows. Instead, they made Nottingham and its surrounding world feel dystopian, dressed Robin in clothes that would probably look fashionable today and staged riots that feel closer to a modern revolution than a medieval uprising. Does all of it work? Absolutely not. Does any of it make historical sense? Probably even less. But that is also why I find the movie strangely enjoyable. Robin Hood is messy, but its commitment to being different is exactly what makes it entertaining. It makes some completely bizarre creative decisions, yet I would rather see a movie take those risks than simply give us another Robin Hood adaptation that feels exactly like the ones we have already seen.

The ending makes the movie’s ambitions even clearer because it very deliberately sets up a sequel. Characters are repositioned, a new Sheriff of Nottingham emerges and Robin’s journey feels like it is only really beginning when the credits arrive. Of course, that sequel ultimately never happened after Robin Hood performed poorly at the box office, leaving all that setup hanging forever. I actually think that is a bit of a shame. I am certainly not devastated that we never got Robin Hood 2, but I would have watched it. There was enough potential here to develop this bizarre interpretation further, particularly now that the origin story was out of the way. At the same time, I cannot pretend I have spent the years since desperately wondering what might have happened next.

Ultimately, Robin Hood is a movie where its biggest strength and biggest weakness are almost exactly the same thing. It desperately wants to be different. Sometimes that gives us stylish action, ridiculously entertaining archery, great chemistry between Robin and Little John and a version of Nottingham unlike anything we have seen from this story before. Other times it gives us questionable CGI horses, a surprisingly small world and Robin of Loxley wandering around in clothes that look suspiciously like they belong in a modern designer shop. It is messy, loud, historically questionable and completely over the top, but I would be lying if I said I was not entertained by it. This is never going to be the definitive Robin Hood movie, and I completely understand why its unusual approach turned so many people away. But amongst the countless traditional interpretations of the character, this one at least has the confidence to be its own thing. Switch your brain off, embrace the madness and there is a genuinely fun popcorn action movie here. Sometimes being memorable for all the wrong reasons can still be a lot more entertaining than playing it safe..