Robin Hood Reviews Are Up, Here’s What Critics Are Saying
Robin Hood is one of those timeless characters who's going to get movies made about him for as long as we're making movies. The story of robbing the rich to give to the poor works in any era and makes for instant drama, but how does the new Robin Hood, starring Kingsman's Taron Egerton in the title role, stack up against the rest? Our own Mike Reyes found the film enjoyable enough, giving it 3.5 stars out of five, though he felt the movie felt a little too much like Christopher Nolan's Batman movies, a not enough like an original Robin Hood concept. According to Reyes...
There are a few other positive reviews of the film that tend to fall strongly into the "it's fun, don't think too hard" school of movie praise. Variety's Owen Gleiberman also points out the ways that this Robin Hood takes some cues from modern superhero movies like Batman, but also compares the film to another, very different, style of film, the over-the-top glitz, glamour, and surrealness of the director of Moulin Rouge.
There are other positive reviews, which is to say, as of this writing, there is a single other positive review currently posted on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The UK's Independent says mostly credit the film's never-ceasing tempo and a couple of standout performances.
Once we get past these few positive notes, however, it's all downhill. The vast majority of the opinions are coming down squarely on the "it's just bad" side of the fence. The Wrap's Yolanda Machado felt the script was "uninspired," saying...
It seems like the new Robin Hood may give you everything you expect from a Robin Hood movie, bows and arrows, swordfights, the Sherriff of Nottingham, etc. but doesn't really give you much more than that. It tries to add a different spin to the material by giving the film a more modern feel, which is certainly something that we haven't seen from Robin Hood movies before, Keven Costner's lack of accent notwithstanding.
Of course, the last time a movie tried to do a modernized, but still period, version of a classic myth, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, it didn't work out very well for anybody involved. THR's Todd McCarthy reminds us all of that box office bomb, and lumps Robin Hood in with it. He's looking for an apology after sitting through Robin Hood.
Of course, not every review that agrees the film is bad goes quite so far as to expect everybody to perform community service. Some have been able to find bright spots in an otherwise poor production. While Robin Hood as a movie may not work, some, like the Boston Globe's Meredith Goldstein, do think Taron Eggerton works as Robin Hood, saying...
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As of this writing, Robin Hood is sitting with an 18% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The general consensus is clearly that Robin Hood isn't very good, and with the film seeing significant competition over the Thanksgiving weekend from the likes of Creed II and Ralph Breaks The Internet, which have both reviewed much better, it seems like the movie may have a significantly uphill battle when it comes to the box office.
CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis. Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.