Robin Hood (2018)

## Robin Hood

> *"There's been whispers of a thief..."*
> —Official tagline
>
>

**Robin Hood** is a highly anachronistic American film adaptation of the traditional tale of Robin Hood released in November 2018.

## Plot

Lord Robin of Loxley, an aristocrat and an English longbow master, lives in Nottingham and enjoys a good life with his lover Marian, before he is drafted by the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham to fight in the Third Crusade against the Saracens.

After four years away from England, Robin becomes disillusioned with the Crusades when he fails to prevent his commander, Guy of Gisbourne, from executing unarmed prisoners, including a teenage boy, despite the pleading of the boy's father, which prompts Gisbourne to send Robin back home under accusations of treasonous conduct.

When he returns to Nottingham, Robin learns from his old friend Friar Tuck that the Sheriff had him officially declared dead two years prior in order to seize his land and wealth to continue funding the war effort at the behest of the corrupt Cardinal Franklin, exiling the citizens from the city and into the coal mine town across the river.

Investigating "the Slags", Robin witnesses the commoners planning to rise against the government that oppresses and exploits them and learns that Marian is now involved with their aspiring leader, Will Tillman. Robin is prevented from making contact with her by the prisoner whose son he tried to save. The man then introduces himself as Yahya — which he says can be translated to "John" — and proposes that he and Robin work to end the war by stealing back the money taken from the people to fund the church's conflict. Marian seeks Robin upon learning that he is alive, but he's advised by John not to tell her of his plans for her own protection.

Through a grueling training regimen in his now-decrepit manor, Robin greatly expands-upon and improves his skills in archery and combat and begins stealing the riches that the Sheriff has extorted from the townspeople, earning the nickname "The Hood", while concealing his activities by masquerading as a frivolous playboy-Lord who supports the Sheriff's regime.

During a party in the Cardinal's honor attended by Robin, Marian and Will, Marian and Robin discover the war is a ploy of the church, which is also funding the Saracen army, to defeat the king and claim total power after his death. Gisbourne and his men raid the Slags at the Sheriff's behest to find the Hood.

Marian attempts to intervene despite Will's objections and crosses paths with the Hood, whom she discovers is Robin by recognizing his voice. John is captured by Gisbourne and tortured by the Sheriff but refuses to reveal the Hood's identity. When the Sheriff uses John's faith against him, he threatens him with the promise, that his eyes and face will soon be the last he sees.

Robin reveals himself to the commoners at Marian's urging and is embraced as their leader, upsetting Will. Will leads a riot to distract the Sheriff's men while Robin intercepts a caravan transporting the Sheriff's fortune out of Nottingham, due to be delivered to the Saracen army. Robin then leads the townspeople in a battle against the Sheriff and his corrupt forces. During the confrontation, Robin shares a kiss with Marian, which is witnessed by Will, moments before he is horribly scarred by a Molotov cocktail. Angered by Marian's love for Robin, he abandons her and the revolution.

When the tide of the battle begins turning in the Sheriff's favor, Robin surrenders to avoid further bloodshed and is taken to the Sheriff's castle to be executed; one of the guards is actually John, having previously escaped his cell, and he finally claims revenge on the Sheriff by hanging him by the chain on a massive censer burner and left dangling high on up from roof of the cathedral. Robin and John flee to reunite with Marian and the townspeople who assisted them, taking refuge as outlaws in Sherwood Forest, sharing out their reclaimed loot.

Meanwhile, the Cardinal approaches a vengeful Will and offers him the chance to claim the power vacuum in Nottingham if he is loyal to the church. Will is appointed the new sheriff and brands Robin and his followers criminals, with Robin defiantly challenging Will to come after him with a well placed arrow through the wanted poster being held up by Will to his townspeople.

## Cast

* Taron Egerton as Robin of Loxley
* Jamie Foxx as Yahya/John
* Ben Mendelsohn as Sheriff of Nottingham
* Eve Hewson as Maid Marian
* Jamie Dornan as Will Scarlet
* Paul Anderson as Guy of Gisborne
* Tim Minchin as Friar Tuck

## Character Alterations

* Robin is seen using a composite recurve bow in addition to his traditional longbow.
* Little John is combined with the modern Islamic member of the Merry Men who has turned up in many adaptations.

## Trivia

* The film was announced as *Robin Hood: Origins* while still in production.

## Mistakes

* Costuming, cultural behavior, hair styling and set design is anachronistic without any storytelling or cost cutting justification. This is especially jarring as there was no reason to set the film during the crusades given its intention as an update on the tale.
	+ Supposedly set in historical 12th century England without resembling it in any way, even in fully digitally rendered shots.
	+ During the reign of King John St. George's Cross was only used in the British navy and was not adopted as a flag until a century later.
	+ The Maghrebine Berbers, the people termed "Moors", were not even near the Holy land during the crusades, so Little John supposedly being a Moor from the Holy Land is a geographical and historical anachronism.
	+ While scarification was widespread in West Africa where it clearly communicated identity and tribal membership among other things the Moors were from North Africa. Scarification is also haram while Little John is meant to be Muslim and would therefore likely avoid decorating his head with transgressions against Islamic law.
	+ The prevalence of very clear and distinct machine stitching throughout the costumes is very odd for a film set many centuries before the invention of the technique.
	+ Marian lives and sleeps with Robin before marriage but is not intended to be a prostitute.
	+ Robin's composite bow would have fallen apart in the rain as water was a good solvent for the glue of the era.
	+ There was no draft or conscription of any kind in England at the time of the Crusades, so Loxley could not have received a draft notice.
	+ Injured persons were not sent home from the Crusades. Such a journey would have been an expensive and dangerous undertaking and completely impractical. Hospital boats were also not a thing.
	+ The mining town and the setup of its populace does not at all resemble feudal society, or any other prior to the industrial revolution. This is for no apparent reason as making the downtrodden historically accurate serfs would have left them in just as pitiable a position, if not more so to a modern audience.
	+ While rail history is ancient and fascinating metal rails resembling those shown in the film were not introduced until the late 1700s, and those in the film are significantly more modern than even those in their design.
	+ Molotov cocktails were first used in the Spanish Civil War during the 1930s. The early 20th century is quite far off from the movie's chosen time period in the 12th century.
	+ Reading glasses appear about a century before their invention in Italy in approximately 1290.
	+ The origin of corrugated roofing is quite well documented. It's first form as corrugated galvanised iron was not invented until the 1820s.
	+ Hooded sweatshirts were not produced until the 1930s. The chaperon or capa is known to have been in use in England by at least the 12th century but the garment is *very* different from the hoodie Loxley wears, as is the cowl appropriate for the time period.
	+ Leather Dusters are more correctly a 19th century on article of costuming and are not 12th century coat, the sheriff's entire wardrobe would have resembled his film counterpart's in no way whatsoever save for including items that are articles of clothing.
	+ Knitted beanies like Friar Tuck wears were not worn commonly until the 18th century, and originated in Monmouth in the 14th century.
	+ Tunics of the era were not modern long sleeved t-shirts and were demonstrably very different in appearance.
	+ Friar Tuck maintains his normal role as an anachronistic character as Friars did not exist in England during the portrayed time period.
* Bows are fired incorrectly, in ways that would not work at all and in ways that would not allow for targeting.
	+ An arrow cannot be fired from a bow through a stone wall by human strength. Especially the stone wall of a fortification as those are thick walls owing to their intended use. Stone curtain walls on castles in England for example were anywhere from 7 to 20 feet thick. Notice the low number is 7 feet.
	+ Arrows do not have explosive properties or tendencies.
	+ The bowstrings would have lost their elasticity when wet, like in the poring rain, and the bow and arrows would have been kept covered in such weather to prevent their losing accuracy and longevity rather than kept out in the rain as shown in the film.
	+ No archers appear to keep a second string for their bows, as would have been done with warbows.

## Gallery

Movie PosterTaron Egerton PosterJamie Foxx is Little John PosterEve Hewson is Maid Marian PosterTim Minchin is Friar Tuck PosterJamie Dornan is Will Scarlet PosterBen Mendelsohn is the Sheriff of Nottingham Poster