Only fans of Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx should check out this modern reboot of 'Robin Hood'.
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There have been many iterations of Robin Hood movies both on the small and big screens. The last big-screen iteration in 2010 starring Russell Crowe opened to lukewarm response. The same fate may greet this ‘Robin Hood’, the directorial debut of British TV director Otto Bathurst.
Starring Taron Egerton (‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’) as the prince of thieves, ‘Robin Hood’ attempts to do something “new” and “modern” with the Robin Hood origin story. Its template is Christopher Nolan’s ‘Batman Begins’. Like Nolan’s Bruce Wayne who toughened his mettle overseas, Bathurst’s Robin of Loxley underwent his baptism of fire in a war in the Middle East that recalls the Iraq War. Robin returns four years later to a grimy and gritty Nottingham, where its citizens are exploited and oppressed by the government, run by the Sheriff (Ben Mendelsohn, who played the corporate villain John Daggett in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’).
Robin is desperate to right the wrongs, but he’s still not well trained enough, until his former enemy now war prisoner, an Arabic insurgent named Yahya, nicknamed John (Jamie Foxx), who lost his son whom Robin tried to save, turns up and offer an alliance. A skilled archer, John trains Robin until he’s able to fire arrows at lightning speed. Robin, in his hood, starts to pillage the Sheriff’s coffers and redistributes them to the villagers. At other times, Robin loses his hood and plays the part of Robin of Loxley, the Bruce Wayne of Nottingham. As Robin of Loxley, Robin ingratiates himself with the Sheriff to try to learn of his plans.
It does not sound bad on paper, but some things went amiss when the idea was fleshed out on the script and in the execution. Action sequences are messily staged and edited, and are unsatisfying to watch. Characters are virtually one-note archetypes, and despite the starry cast, their performances are only as good as their scripted roles.
‘Robin Hood’ aspires to be the epic hero’s journey (and to start a new franchise) that is Nolan’s Batman movies. Unfortunately, it falls way short and ends up looking like another Robin Hood telemovie.
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