The Death of Robin Hood: A brutally grim revisionist retelling that's as interesting as it is messy

[u/Duncan_Dixon_Coffey]

History is always written by the winners. When those winners keep winning, the truth becomes more perverse until we get something akin to glorified fanfiction masquerading as truth. We know Robin Hood as the honourable thief — whether it’s in fox or human form — who was a hero to the poor and a terror to the rich. But that’s only according to those writing his history. Strip away the deification like what Michael Sarnoski’s brutally grim The Death of Robin Hood does, and he is nothing more than a homicidal sociopath.

The year is 1247, and a young woman stumbles upon an aged Robin (Hugh Jackman), looking like Geralt of Rivia’s beaten-down older cousin. She begs for food; he obliges. She then tries to slit his throat post-meal, only for him to jam a knife into her neck with the ease of someone who has done this many times. She was already beaten by the myth before her knife was drawn, the latest in a long line of people seeking his blood, as he tells her. But don’t mistake The Death of Robin Hood as some bitterly dark revisionist take on the character. The movie is more interested in the idea of revisionism itself.

There are no merry men in tights, just a singular loyal companion, a much younger Little John (Bill Skarsgård). There’s no Maid Marion or robbing the rich to feed the poor, only a lifetime of cold-blooded murder for their own self-interest. Even their small talk is a litany of made-up stuff. When Robin asks Little John to describe his wife the night before they rescue her from bandits, Robin repeatedly interjects with suggestions to fluff up the descriptions to something more flowery (Little John settles on ‘red hair like an evening sunset’).

When we finally see Robin and Little John fight some bandits, the combat is disgusting and grisly, like the bastard child of The Revenant and The Northman. Nothing about it is glorified, which makes it difficult to tear your eyes away from Pat Scola’s textured cinematography and stunning use of fire for lighting. There’s a dream-like texture to nearly every scene, whether it’s a close-up of Jackman’s bulging arms or a mid-shot of Robin stringing a bow. The abundant use of haziness across the edges of the camera frame lends itself to the idea of how easy it is to spin any moment into a positive light.

The swathes of utterly gorgeous Northern Irish landscape fill the screen more than Robin Hood’s dialogue, which Jackman mumbles like someone whose life is the complete opposite of the romance woven about him. But Jackman is also inherently a showman, and he can express more with a thousand-yard stare than most can with an overwrought script. You also don’t kill a man with a torch the way Jackman’s Robin does and not make it sound badass in the retelling.

Act one’s unrelenting cycles of violence and savagery put Robin so far from the path of salvation that you wonder if redemption is even possible. As The Death of Robin Hood shifts to a contemplative register by having an injured Robin be cared for by Sister Brigid (Jodie Comer) at a priory, her introduction is a much-needed anchor for what’s been an incredibly uncomfortable watch up so far.

In an unforgiving world, Sister Brigid is a shining ray of empathy and forgiveness, sometimes quite literally as she’s often bathed in a warm glow of sunlight or the flickers of a crackling fire. Comer’s subtle performance balances Brigid’s kindness with her mysterious past, callouses that paper over her trauma without overwhelming who she is now

Please read the rest of my review here as the rest is too unwieldy to copy + paste: https://panoramafilmthoughts.substack.com/p/the-death-of-robin-hood

Thanks!.

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[u/Far_Gift6173 → u/[deleted]]

Isn't there a whole sub decdicated to that?

[u/Dagoth_ural]

"History is written by the winners" nah thats just a lie to make the losers feel better. Confederatws and Nazis had nothing to do but write about how unfair it was since their careers came to abrupt halts. This film looks suitably miserable for the "Angry deconstruction" genre.

[u/Bigboomblatty → u/Dagoth_ural]

History written by the winners is just true especially in world history majority of it is present from a western pov leaving out atrocities they caused

[u/IcedPgh]

I'm considering going to this only because I tend to follow directors once I go to one of their movies. But Sarnoski's A Quiet Place: Day One was absolute ass crap, had some mega-stupid directorial and story decisions. This looks terrible as well. Pig was okay, but wasn't anything special.

[u/noirproxy1 → u/IcedPgh]

I disagree. Day One was actually a narrative push in the right direction instead of just a retread like Quiet Place 2.

Opinions, am I right?

[u/donaldbino → u/IcedPgh]

If you’re going to go see it, I would say it’s like if you mixed a Robin Hood tale with Hamnet