‘Robin Hood’ Review Round-Up: ‘Strobes Between Boredom And Absurdity’

Critics have weighed in on Robin Hood and reviews are largely unkind to the latest depiction of the legendary outlaw.

Director Otto Bathurst’s Robin Hood is the latest attempt to bring the eponymous outlaw to the big screen, but reviews for the film have been mixed-at-best to outright disparaging. While some critics seem to admire Bathurst’s action sequences and some of the efforts on the part of the cast, others were less impressed by what they deem a boring and forgettable film.

You can read some of the reviews below!

Variety‘s Owen Gleiberman:

 “Robin Hood” is no classic, but if it sometimes seems like it’s trying to be “Baz Luhrmann’s Robin Hood,” more power to it. The movie is a diverting live-wire lark — one that, for my money, gets closer to the spirit of what Robin Hood is about than the logy 1991 Kevin Costner version or the dismal 2010 Russell Crowe version. That both those films, in different ways, so failed to conjure the devil-may-care, lighter-than-air rambunctiousness of the Robin Hood saga may be a sign that it’s finally time to stop telling this story with the same old tropes.”

The Hollywood Reporter‘s Todd McCarthy:

“The action here is too phony and mechanically cranked up to believe that anything is on the line. Mendelsohn’s villain is boringly one-note, Eve Hewson’s Marion uses an incongruous Yank accent and always looks as though she’s just stepped out of the makeup trailer, F. Murray Abraham swans around in fancy cardinal’s vestments looking sinister and Foxx seems pissed off that he’s not somewhere, perhaps anywhere, else. As for Egerton, he’s a boy doing a man’s job.”

Entertainment’s Weekly‘s Maureen Lee Lenker:

“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.”

Indie Wire‘s David Ehrlich:

“There’s no flow to the combat, no sense behind the stunts, and no reason to invest in any of the empty noise around them. “Robin Hood” just strobes between boredom and absurdity so fast that it starts constantly providing both at once. By the time Mendelsohn threatens to boil someone in their own piss, you’ll be too bored to care if he actually follows through (spoiler alert: he doesn’t).”

Los Angeles Times‘ Katie Walsh:

“Writers Ben Chandler and David James Kelly hew to the original lore while drawing out the parts of the character’s story that make him most sympathetic, while director Otto Bathurst gives the project a visual makeover and a jolt of adrenaline. Foxx also enlivens the proceedings, especially in the first half of the film, during the rapid-fire training montages. His breathless enthusiasm for vengeance is far more compelling than Robin mooning over Marian.”

Polygon‘s Andy Crump:

“Gone is the swashbuckling rogue, replaced by a familiar combination: Robin Hood makes a brooding attempt at grounding the story in the real world, while Robin’s superhuman feats of martial as well as athletic prowess undermine the gritty realism. This isn’t history, it’s his story — a literal line from the introductory monologue, assuring us that this take on Robin Hood is the genuine article and not the hokem we’ve been spoon fed in the past.”

Robin of Loxley (Taron Egerton) a war-hardened Crusader and his Moorish commander (Jamie Foxx) mount an audacious revolt against the corrupt English crown in a thrilling action-adventure packed with gritty battlefield exploits, mind-blowing fight choreography, and a timeless romance.

Directed by Otto Bathurst from a script written by Ben Chandler and David James Kelly, Robin Hood stars Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx, Ben Mendelsohn, Eve Hewson, Tim Minchin, Jamie Dornan, and Cornelius Booth.

Robin Hood is now playing in theaters!