‘Robin Hood (2018)’ Review
Stars: Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx, Ben Mendelsohn, Eve Hewson, Jamie Dornan, Tim Minchin, Paul Anderson, F. Murray Abraham, Ian Peck, Cornelius Booth, Kane Headley-Cummings | Written by Ben Chandler, David James Kelly | Directed by Otto Bathurst
To state that Otto Bathursts’ reimagining of Robin Hood is a colossal failure would be to understate such a pathetic and lacklustre attempt at creating just whatever monstrosity this turned out to be in an excruciating two hour running time. That with just a reminiscent thought of having to experience such an event again brings a knott to my stomach.
For a film that has every asset at its disposal to create a thrilling and compelling piece of narrative Robin Hood begins and ends in the most cliched of fashions of literal fairytale bookending of a graphic novel, similar to that of the narrative of Shrek, a comparison i never thought i’d write. What proceeds in this nightmare is a mind-numbing narration from the drastically miscast Tim Minchin as Friar Truck with an equally absurd accent and a horrifically forced tone-deaf romance between Taron Egerton and Eve Hewson as Robin of Loxley and Marian, respectively that sends shivers down my spine with just how poorly written and performed the roles and character arcs are showcased. Edgerton for one is in big trouble with a poor and sizeable ineffective filmography growing and growing, one hopes his Dexter Fletcher directed Elton John bio-pic Rocketmen can bring him back from the depths of box office bomb haven that Brandon Routh, Jai Courtenay and Kellan Lutz inhabit.
Jamie Foxx and Ben Mendelsohn don’t offer much in terms of showcasing either an interesting or even remotely entertaining performance. The former, an Academy Award-winning actor fails to convey a middle eastern accent, of bizarre origins, but his character is so desperate for depth and charisma it becomes sickly how the writers force a connection between him and Edgerton’s Robin Hood. For Mendelsohn, if you’ve seen either or both Rogue One or Ready Player One, you’ve seen exactly what the actor inhabits in a villainous role and regurgitates just that.
All round Robin Hood is a cancerous attempt at cashing in on a property that has little to offer in terms of subversion, of which is an attempt performed nonetheless with a conviction so poorly implemented amidst so little stylish manifestation and even less substance. It begs the question of what the whole idea of this property actually was. Aside from trying to replicate the aesthetic of Nolan’s The Dark Knight series and every other superhero property on the market as we speak.
Robin Hood is (probably still) in UK cinemas now.
