Robin Hood Review: 2 Ups & 7 Downs

Downs...

7. It Tries Way Too Hard To Be "Modern"

Robin Hood Jamie Dornan Will Scarlet
Lionsgate

From almost the very first moment of this film, it's hilariously over-eager to fashion itself as a "hip", contemporary re-imagining of the Robin Hood myth, with grating voiceover narration literally telling the viewer, "Forget what you've seen of this character before."

The 115-minute movie that follows is a disastrous hodgepodge of things a studio executive somewhere thinks the kids want to see these days.

There's the ridiculous anachronistic clothing worn by, well, everyone - Marian (Eve Hewson) even wears a distractingly out-of-time leather jacket at one point - not to mention the at-times borderline steampunk aesthetic, and an historical context desperately reaching for relevance to the current political climate.

As for Robin Hood himself, he basically gets the now-typical Batman Begins treatment, attempting to make the character a sexy sneak, but almost 15 years (!) removed from Christopher Nolan's movie, it's hard to look past the aggressive cynicism of it all.

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Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.