[Review] Robin Hood 罗宾汉 | Campus

by Velda Wong

Disclaimer: The below are the subjective views of the author’s own personal thoughts with regards to the film and in no case meant to provoke debate about the film’s performance. It should be read as objectively and neutral as possible, thank you.

Robin Hood opened in cinemas two weeks ago, and I had the good fortune of catching it before it aired to the public.

The duration of the show was just about right, and the scenes were nicely shot. The angles managed to capture the action-packed fight scenes sharply and their combative moves are sure to get your adrenaline pumping as well!

However, the adrenaline rush is evidently not sustainable throughout the movie. The music used to portray the climax and fringes of the show matched perfectly with the different scenarios but overall, it was a so-so production with a brilliant cast but less than stellar acting by the three main leads – Taron Egerton (Robin Hood), Jamie Foxx (Robin’s mentor) and Eve Hewson (Marian).

I felt that the lines were quite flat, mostly delivered with no varied tones while the characters expressed the lines. The comical lines in the script were well-written but the actors failed to bring out or manifest the humour that was intended to spice up the dialogue.

In the end, I think I would give a rating of 2 out of 5. According to other news sources, the film apparently “received generally negative reviews from critics, who criticized the direction, narrative and wasting of the cast”. There is more room for improvement in terms of line delivery, and plot and character development.

Other news outlet like Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers stated: “Arriving just in time to win a place among the year’s worst films, Robin Hood robs you of two hours,” and The New York Times’ Glenn Kenny shared that the film “strains to be relevant… Jamie Foxx must have lost a bet. The plot is twisty in a perfunctory way, the action predictably explosive, the sought-after exhilaration non-existent.”

What do you think? Share with us your thoughts if you caught the film!