I had a vacation trip recently with, among other people, my dad. At one point during our stay, Dad was flipping channels on the resort’s TV and found one of his all-time favorite movies: The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn. By sheer coincidence now that I am back, there’s a new Robin Hood movie out, this one starring Hugh Jackman, from writer/director Michael Sarnowki, director of the deceptively not-as-crazy-as-the-trailers suggested it would be Nick Cage movie Pig. Will this movie, The Death of Robin Hood, also be something different than the advertising promised?
Well, I’ve seen it, and I know the answer to that question.
In the late 13th century, Robin Hood (Jackman) is a tired old man who doesn’t care much for the legends and stories told about him. He didn’t rob from the rich to the give to the poor. There was no Maid Marian. He killed and stole because he liked it, and he spends his days mostly fending off vengeful assassins looking to avenge a dead family member. One day, he is approached by Little John (Bill Skarsgård), perhaps the only one of the Merry Men who was actually real in this setting, looking for help. John took over the identity of a farmer named Edward, married, and had a kid, but the real Edward’s family came back, and now John needs Robin to rescue his farm (even if it isn’t really his) and his pious wife. Robin agrees, and off the pair go.
Things don’t go precisely as planned, and an injured Robin ends up on an island where a prioress, Sister Brigid (Jodie Comer), heals all comers. John stays behind, but his daughter Margaret (Faith Delaney) eventually also comes to the island. Robin, recuperating under an assumed name, gets to know the island’s residents, mostly other nuns and orphans, but also a mysterious leper (Murray Bartlett) who seems to know a thing or two about the convalescing outlaw. If this is the Death of Robin Hood, how will the old man go out? And can the cycle of violence throughout the movie be stopped?
Now, if I had written this review up immediately after leaving the theater, I might have given it a very high grade and thought nothing of it. Jackman is great. Sarnowski gives the movie an appropriate atmosphere given the subject matter. There’s violence, but most of it is confined to the first act. The themes, namely the power of stories and the way violence perpetuates itself, are solid. I walked out of the theater highly satisfied.
However, the more I thought about it, the more I saw some narrative inconsistencies. Obviously, this is an anti-hero redemption movie. But what is it that makes this Robin want to be better? He lives in a violent world. John is little better than a violent thug, the kind of man who will just kill someone for a loaf of bread. Robin is regretful, but it isn’t quite certain what makes him want to change. The movie somehow felt too long in some places and too short in others. I really liked the movie. I just am not sure how well it works on reflection.
Grade: B-
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