In the same way that Peter Jackson is held responsible for the debacle that is
Mortal Engines, I see no reason to let Leonardo DiCaprio get a pass with this latest
Robin Hood failure. DiCaprio well and truly fucked up here. I hope they never let him produce anything ever again! And this film is a failure in mostly every department. I admit I was somewhat enjoying it for the first hour, in a superficial how-will-this-pan-out way. There were many problems but the film's spine (a soldier back from war and heartbroken that his woman is with another man) had pulled me in. But the problems are hard to ignore.
Talking of problems, the first and biggest one is the tone of the film. It's in the vein of recent medieval/sword movies like
Assassin's Creed - in one ear and out the other! Everything is dark and cheap and there is no care given to any scene or sequence. Every scene is flashy and quick, with glib one-liners given all the time and a score that could've been taken from any number of other period action flicks. It's horrible. There is no sense of grandeur to the nemesis or to the hero. And the pre-title screen forewarning: "forget what you know..", is damn fine advice. You won't see a forest for 1 hour and 41 minutes, which is about 3 minutes before the end credits. Get ready for a fifty shades of dark grey action in grey cobbled streets with everyone wearing grey, and it also stars Jamie Dornan!
The second big problem: Ben Mendelsohn. He's totally out of place as the Sheriff of Nottingham. He tries, but he doesn't have a fucking clue what to do. Maybe he's actively trying
not to be Alan Rickman, but this version of the Sheriff feels powerless and weak, and so he becomes utterly forgettable (something that is confirmed with his death scene - DiCaprio forgot to give the villain a big send off!). And whoever thought it would be cool for everyone to look as if they are wearing modern-day attire, they should never work in the business again. I bet DiCaprio forced that decision! Everyone is wearing leather jackets and has neatly-trimmed hair. Maid Marian has a very stylish motorcycle jacket (with cleavage!), with hair so perfectly curled as if she's out for a night on the town. It's fucking ludicrous.
Another creative problem is the action. What the fuck was DiCaprio thinking??! The first scene is so obviously trying to make it look like the Afghan/Iraq war. The sandy uniform, the bulletproof vests, the automatic rifle-esque reloading and shooting of arrows, the tactical team approach, and so on, and it just feels again
so out of place. If the bows and arrows were digitally removed, you could slip the scenes into
Green Zone and nobody would know.
Another big mistake is Taron Edgerton as Robin of Loxley. He's way too smug and has no charm at all. He's no Kevin Costner, but those are big boots to fill. Sadly, he's not even Russell Crowe! He is small in stature and doesn't resemble a hero. Not his voice or his clothes. He has no presence. He was the same age as Costner in
Prince of Thieves, but the two men are on complete opposite ends of what the character should be. Costner was a man. Edgerton is a lad.
Jamie Foxx was passable (though again, nowhere fucking near Morgan Freeman's black sidekick). It's not saying much but he was probably the best part of the film. Though his voice went American every so often. lol. And that ending is laughable. For all the foresight DiCaprio has as an actor, he has equal amounts of not-having-a-damn-clue when it comes to being a producer. He ACTUALLY thought there would be a sequel????