Robin Hood
You’re no longer Robin of Locksley, you’re Robin Hood
So I’m going to give my thoughts on the new Robin Hood movie. After watching this, I went on a Robin Hood craze, watching past Robin Hood movies and even used the trailer of this 2018 movie and combined it with the Disney Robin Hood movie. (Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3pAou6RJkg ). Also this is an un-edited article, so please excuse the mistakes.
Before I went into this movie, I told my friend Kale that this Robin Hood movie will not be an emotionally stunning or cinematic masterpiece. But it would entertain. After two hours of arrow-filled action, I was pretty entertained.
Here are three lists of five things about this movie I thought of:
Five things Robin Hood did right:
He fought in the Crusades. This is historically accurate and a nice touch.
Robin’s lands were taken by the Sheriff. This is in most adaptions, and I’m glad they established some friction early on.
Robin blended in with his environment. Normally this is the woods, but in this movie it was a bunch of dark mines.
Stops the killing of somebody and escapes the Crusades. This was also how Robin Hood in Prince of Thieves got back to Nottingham.
Rescues/escapes with a Moor. Prince of Thieves also did this.
Five innovative things Robin Hood did:
Trains to be a better archer. The other Robin Hood adaptions have just had Robin to be the greatest archer ever.
Will Tillman, formerly known as Will Scarlet. I liked that he was a love interest to Marion and later an enemy to Robin. They have a good rivalry.
Little John’s name and position with Robin changed. He used to just be Robin’s second. Now he’s a Moor who helps Robin become a better thief and fighter.
The outlaw/lord aspect of Robin’s life is very interesting. It reminds me of Batman’s dual identity.
Not being in the forest. I like that this Robin Hood movie changed location. After a bunch of stories set in woods, it’s nice to have some new scenery.
Five misinterpreted things:
The crusades very much different than this depiction. Odds are that Robin would have been wearing full armor, and facing somebody with a sword. Not this desert warfare with bows and arrows. Although visually it looked very nice.
Never does any Robin Hood story besides this one mention mines. That’s either a good thing or a bad thing depending on how much you liked the change.
Robin didn’t have any Merry Men. I guess he gains them at the end, but most stories depict him coming home and joining the Merry Men. This time he had to earn them. That’s a neat aspect.
Robin Hood usually goes into the forest. This time he just stayed in the city. I guess that’s because he had to play the part of lord.
The reason Robin Hood as a fighter was so effective was because nobody uses bows. His range and power made him great against the slower knights and guards of the time.
Now there are also a bunch more interesting facts about Robin Hood that I’ll mention at the end. But first, I’m going to talk about the characters.
Every single actor was going for it. They knew how their character should behave and act in this setting. Especially Jamie Foxx, Taron Egerton, and Ben Mendelsohn. They were each spot on as ruthless mentor, cocky outlaw, and murderous sheriff.
Speaking of the sheriff, he had some of the most enjoyable speeches and rants ever. It reminds me of the Joker’s dialogue in The Dark Knight. He’s evil and power-hungry. And no outlaw is going to get in the way of that.
Friar Tuck was also different and interesting in this movie. He was more involved in the escapades and adventures than usual. Plus the way the character moved and acted was quirky and fun.
Marion also changed a lot. Usually she’s a damsel in distress that has one small piece of action. This time, she became the people’s leader. And did a better job at this then Will or Robin. She was both loyal and fierce. Strong and caring. The only aspect of her character I didn’t enjoy a lot was Robin and Marion’s romance. It felt kind of weird and fast. But that was only a minor issue. Plus she started out as a thief, so we know that she can take care of herself without the help of a trained killer.
Robin himself was also unique because of the fact that he’s much younger than most depictions. The Disney Robin Hood is in his late thirties, the Russel Crow Robin Hood was also late thirties, as was Kevin Costner’s depiction. Taron Egerton is twenty-nine, so I’m going to assume that Robin of Locksley is too. The techniques that were used to shoot the arrows so fast in this movie are actual techniques. The cast was trained by a popular YouTuber who is a master with the bow.
The world of the 2018 Robin Hood movie was both visually stunning, and full of neat structures. The mines especially were crafted well. It felt like a real town that was rickety and frail. The fire effects in the movie were strangely good too. During the part in which eight knights with shields push their way through the wall of fire looked amazing.
There were two sequences especially that I remember well. The gambling sequence, which felt out-of-place, and the chariot chase, which reminded me of Ben-Hur.
Speaking of world design, I found out that the designers for the costumes had a formula that they used to achieve the unique look. Every costume is one-third historically correct, one-third modern, and one-third futuristic. That really explains how everything looked both weird and cool.
There are two people on this movie that I want to mention. First, one of the editors for this Robin Hood movie worked on two very famous films, Born of the Fourth of July, and Jerry Maguire. The second person is the composer. The composer, who’s name is Joseph Trapanese, also did the score for Tron: Legacy (along with Daft Punk), Oblivion, and The Greatest Showman. I love all the scores for both Tron and The Greatest Showman so much.
Overall, I think this was a flawed but very interesting Robin Hood movie. My favorite part about it was the characters, who each had their neat moments. With a few minor tweaks, I could have seen this movie being very, very good.