Robin Hood (2018) Is Bad - Critic Roundup And My Review Of The Movie

Robin Hood sees release this week and unfortunately, it’s another huge dud for the character. I don’t know why they can’t get the Nottingham Native right but it seems like every attempt since the Kevin Costner version has been really disappointing. It’s baffling that studios constantly try and reintroduce the character for modern audiences but I guess because he is out of copyright they just see him as an easy cash grab.

As of this review the movie is currently sitting on 14% on Rotten Tomatoes and whilst I never really put too much weight in the website, this is a clear indicator that it is not a good film.

My biggest problem with the movie is that it just feels like a mish-mash of things that you’ve seen before but done 1,000 times better. Robin Hood not only steals from the rich but he also steals from bigger and better movies which leaves this feeling very hollow. There are shades of Batman, Guy Ritchie and more in there but none of the elements in this movie match the pieces that they are derivative of.

To me, Robin Hood should be shot on locations and sets but the green screen here is so heavy that it massively takes you out of the film. There’s no real weight to the work and this feels like a sequel to Assassins Creed but for all the worst reasons. Everything feels too clean and crisp to really feel believable as a piece. Clothes, streets and every element of this film is immaculate and it really robs the film of an undertone of authenticity.

I’m not the only one who has this criticism either. The New York Post Said

“This isn’t the first time somebody has tried to probe the dark recesses of this should-be charming action story. The 2010 film with Russell Crowe did it, too, but at least that movie tried to approximate the time period, In director Otto Bathurst’s new Hood, Nottingham looks like a Roman fortress where everybody shops at Zara.” the New York Post

It feels more like Robin Hoodie than Robin Hood and it’s clearly just been written by committee in order to appease as many people as possible.

Entertainment Weekly‘s Maureen Lee Lenker called Robin Hood a “humorless heist movie with no heart.” She stated that “In action sequences, director Otto Bathurst picks up a shooting style perfected by Guy Ritchie: the artfully calibrated mix of slow motion and hyper-speed in a balletic rush of violence. Ritchie has used the technique to comedic and adventurous effect in the Sherlock Holmes films, but at this point, the trick feels stale. Bathurst’s approach is derivative, and lacks the narrative purpose that has made the aesthetic shine in other contexts.”

And I wholeheartedly agree, the movie just fails to deliver on every level stylistically and feels like it’s missing its own panache that could really elevate it.

The acting is solid throughout however and each character feels like they are doing their best with the material that they are given, it’s just that that material as a whole is pretty mundane.

So no, I don’t recommend that you go and see Robin Hood this weekend, there is a by far better film in Creed 2 that I think deserves your money more. I’ve been predicting this to bomb since I saw the first trailer and hopefully this is the final nail in the coffin for a character that is in sore need of an arrow in the head.