Some things are meant to die
read more
You know the tale of the legendary heroic outlaw Robin Hood. The skilled archer who steals from the rich to give to the poor. Now what if that were all a tall tale told to preserve his reputation?
Adapted from the 17th-century ballad Robin Hood's Death, The Death of Robin Hood follows an aged outlaw Robin, tormented by his murderous past. Wounded and on the brink of death, Robin’s fellow bandit Little John takes him to a priory where he is nursed back to health by Sister Brigid.
Little John’s avenging ways makes an orphan of his daughter, Margaret, who chances upon the island where Robin is. Determined to keep his identity a secret while his past catches up to him, the man who once begged for death now finds himself back in the fold when he suspects the young Margaret a target for assassination. Starring Hugh Jackman, Jodie Comer, Bill Skarsgård, Murray Bartlett, Noah Jupe, and Faith Delaney.
Writer-director Michael Sarnoski’s The Death of Robin Hood relies on the perception we have of the titular character being a hero and wastes no time teaching us his film is anything but a Homeric tale for Robin. The film is dark and serious, and Robin Hood is a brutal murderous bandit.
It’s lasting imagery that haunts to bear witness to Robin’s ruthlessness – actions that come with severe consequences, as we come to see what follows him leaving a trail of bodies are those seeking revenge. It’s a tiring vicious cycle that makes the title of the film feel more like a reprieve than malediction.
With Jackman at the forefront as the old Robin, it’s hard not to make comparisons to his performance as Old Logan back in 2017 – mad serious and gruff in appearance and equally deadly in skills. This may sound like a typecast but the looming Australian action star is one of the rare talents who also excels in the dramatics, making him the perfect candidate for a role of this stature. If you loved him in Logan, you’d love him here.
The Death of Robin Hood may be the grimmest film you’ve seen made of the man but it’s also one of the more stunning and technical ones that deserves its place in the long list of adaptations of the Robin Hood story.
read less