Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Starring Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx, Ben Mendelsohn, Eve Hewson
Directed by Otto Bathurst
The Story:
Robin of Loxley (Taron Egerton) is a wealthy man living in Nottingham, and falls in love with Marian (Eve Hewson). Things are looking up for the couple until Robin is given a summons to fight in the Crusades, and goes off to war, where he meets Arab Yahya (Jamie Foxx), whose son he tries to save. Returning home, he finds that the Sheriff of Nottingham (Ben Mendelsohn) has seized his castle for the war effort, and he's thought dead by all his friends.
When Yahya (who calls himself John) arrives, he convinces Robin to turn against the Sheriff and get his revenge for taking his land. Under his training, Robin becomes a master marksman with the bow and arrow, and sets out to do some real damage to the Sheriff - by robbing him blind. When he uncovers a shady conspiracy between the Sheriff and the Church, Robin must rely on his training and friends to prevent something very dangerous from happening.
The Synopsis:
Much like its predecessors "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword," "Hercules," and "Ben-Hur," "Robin Hood" failed to deliver anything really thought-provoking or original, but instead tried to serve as a hybrid between the classic tale and modern fears, but utterly failing on both ends. I would say it was all style and no substance, but the style wasn't there either - basically, it befuddled me to think how any of these big-name actors wanted to loan their names and talents to such a trainwreck.
By now we've all heard the legend of Robin Hood - a man who robs from the rich and gives to the poor - and while this film tries to incorporate modern politics, it doesn't really sway far from the generic story, even though it seemingly wanted to try to. Essentially, it's a two-hour action fest without much action, a story that's as generic as they come, with an ending you knew would happen before buying your ticket. It's almost totally forgettable, even with some great talent, and leaves you wondering why they decided to make a film like this in the first place.
As Robin, Taron Egerton uses his natural suave and cockiness to deliver a decent performance, but he's much better utilized in the fantastic "Kingsman" franchise. Here, he serves as a means to an end, a man bent on revenge and uses his tools to accomplish it. Nothing you haven't seen before, and better - in fact, the entire film is so cliche-ridden and typical you'd easily forget it after it ends. Not even Egerton's charisma can pull this film out of the muck.
Equally, I have no clue why Jamie Foxx would do a film like this, serving as a stereotypical minority who trains a rich white boy to fight, but isn't given much more to work with. When it comes to bad guys, Ben Mendelsohn is your typical go-to actor ("Rogue One" and "Ready Player One" immediately come to mind), and it seems like he sleepwalks through his performance as the Sheriff of Nottingham as well. Relative newcomer Eve Hewson gives Marian a more modern feel (equipped with attractive makeup and less-than-there clothing), but essentially she's just a more capable damsel in distress. The less I say about Jamie Dornan's character the better, but at least he's better here than his "Fifty Shades" series.
Director Otto Bathurst manages to blend the classic tale with modern political turmoil as subtly as someone posting a video how useless Facebook is on their Facebook page. When Robin is sent to war, it's reminiscent of the resent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, where the soldiers trade in high-grade artillery for bows and arrows. When the crowd goes against the Sheriff, there's a standoff reminiscent of recent protests between protestors and police officers. The Sheriff is obviously given the same treatment as a recent President who talks about how minorities coming to Nottingham will kill everyone and everything they hold dear. There's even mentions of "paying their fair share" and "redistribution of wealth" that make you groan.
The film really relies on its action pieces, and while some work somewhat well, the majority fails to deliver on the promise. In a supposedly thrilling race through the streets, you can clearly tell it's all on a green screen, and doesn't even look like the characters are even there at all. The archery is impressive, because Bathurst did do one thing right - he enlisted YouTube sensation Lars Andersen to train Egerton. If you want to see some amazing archery work, check out his YouTube channel and also this video as well:
The Summary:
Joining other modern tellings of classic literary heroes, "Robin Hood" fails to provide anything memorable, and apart from some fantastic archery, serves as another bland outing that wants to promote itself as a huge action epic.
The Score: D+
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