Review of Robin Hood (2018) by Joseph D — 21 Nov 2018

In the same vein as King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, we have yet another legendary character as told by DC comics...vs Director Krennic.

ROBIN HOOD.

At 1 hour & 44 minuets, this pseudo-period action romp was surprisingly engaging. It's flow was pretty swift, & the story was easy to follow.

The cast really brought their A game. Taron Egerton & Jamie Fox work great off each other & on their own as Hood & John. Eve Hewson's Marian was convincing as a woman both of the period & one ahead of her time. Is it me, or is Ben Mendelsohn being typecast? His Sheriff is the 3rd bad guy he's played in recent films, but then again, he's made being a semi sympathetic villain you still wanna see go down into an art form. The rest of the cast all managed to stand out in their own way, you really felt for the people of Nottingham, wanting to see them stand up to the obviously glass jawed thugs who served the sheriff. As for the thugs themselves, they were like medieval stormtroopers (the Star Wars kind), they put up a good fight, but ultimately were meant to fail. Everyone really put their all into the battle scenes, & it showed! Everyone's character development ends surprisingly far from where they began, but it all felt organic, & it made me want to see more.

The props & effects on display are a master work. The story is set during the 3rd crusade (1189ï¿ 1/2"1192), & while I'm sure some of the weapons & armor seen here existed, this film isn't meant to be even remotely historically accurate, but that's ok, 'cause it was still awesome! It started out feeling like a modern war film, then turned into a retelling of The Dark Knight, complete with political intrigue & corruption of the church, something I was NOT expecting to see; but it all made the story far more engaging than a simple rob from the rich to give to the poor story. Now let's talk about the stunts. Wow. Just...wow! I couldn't tell what was practical, & what was CGI, the level of in person stunt work, props, & real fire effects were the highlight of this film. Every hit, every explosion, real in person action, ya don't see stuff like that in a film like this anymore, it really helped the emersion.

The music felt like it was cherry picked from The Dark Knight, but that's only because it fit. It really felt like a retelling of a Batman story. In fact, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Robin of Loxley was Bruce Wayne's ancestor.

Out've all the versions of Robin Hood I've seen, this one was the most visually impressive if historically inaccurate, well acted, & just all around fun version I've seen in a long time. I do hope we get more from the Bat-Hood universe, 'cause I wanna see the rest of THIS story. 4 stars outta 5, see you in Sherwood!