There have been over 70 versions of Robin Hood.
So, everyone knows the basic story. The difference this one has is that it’s ever-so slightly modernized, and we know the characters all too well. Robin Hood is played by Taron Egerton whose fame and notoriety came from the Kingsman movies (great movies, if a bit crass for some audiences). Little John is played by non other than Jamie Foxx, whose character portrayal of John is a bit different than we know. The big bad is played by Ben Mendelsohn, who I know best from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Ready Player One, plays the Sheriff of Nottingham — he has a talent, and a penchant for playing bad guys. Maid Marian is played by Eve Hewson. Finally, Friar Tuck is played by Tim Minchin, who played Atticus Fetch in Californication, another show I dearly love.
Now, you may be wondering: “But who plays the rooster?” I regret to inform you, this is not the movie for you.
“BUT WHAT ABOUT THE ONE WHERE THEY’RE WEARING TIGHTS?!” It’s not that one, either. It loses out for this review.
But, Robin Hood (2018) really is a pretty darn good movie. It’s only got 2.5 Stars on IMDB, and 3 stars on Amazon, but does that really mean that we’re all supposed to just stop watching movies when they have less than four stars? I don’t think so. Reviews say it had things like “Wooden acting”, and the “clothes were too modern”, and a few other things that were a bit nasty, like “It demonizes Christianity”. Someone doesn’t know their history, and that the church at the time sanctioned the Crusades… so… I mean… take it for what it’s worth, I guess. I personally enjoyed the flick for what it was — essentially a medieval action movie with a romantic subplot. It was a decent movie, give it a shot. I rented it for .99 from Amazon, it was way more than worth that.
So, then, let’s get into the plot. Dip out here, if you want to miss some minor spoilers to a story you already know the plot of.
Robin of Loxley is a Lord of Nottingham. He is an heir to a vast fortune, and one day he catches a thief trying to steal a horse for a lesser person. That thief is Marian. Their meeting there turns into a relationship, and they’re together for a while before Robin is drafted into the Crusades at the hand of the Sheriff of Nottingham. He up and ships off to the Middle East for four years, where he meets Little John in a… complicated scenario.
When he returns, he realizes that his home has been claimed by the Sheriff and basically condemned. Two years after he was gone, he was mistakenly declared dead. When he returns, his house is in shambles, the love of his life is with another man, and John helps Robin understand that he really is the best chance to stop this war machine, and get the Sheriff down off his high horse. And so, the legend of the Hood begins. Robin begins stealing from the rich and redistributing to the poor, as the story goes.
Robin pretends to be Lord Loxley by day and Robin Hood at night, in a sort of Batman-esque portrayal of Robin Hood. He eventually learns, by his secret involvement on both sides, that the Church is securing a shipment from Nottingham that will secure a major change of hands of power in England. Robin has to stop it, or else. Before that happens, though, they capture Marian. During a daring attempt to save her, she discovers that Robin of Loxley is actually The Hood, and John gets kidnapped.
Robin manages to convince all the peasants of Nottingham to rise up against the Sheriff, and a very modern protest-esque standoff occurs on the city streets, all eventually leading to a rather interesting conclusion where Robin leaves his Lordship full and completely behind and the battle against the Sheriff continues.
If they make a sequel, I’d watch it.
T.G. Neal 