This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Legend Meets Realpolitik
Plot Overview
In what amounts to an alternative
to the standard RH fare, a dandy Lord
Robin of Loxley (Taron Egerton) is drafted and sent away to fight the
king's crusades in Arabia. He returns four years later wounded, with an
unlikely ally in a blackamoor soldier named Yahya (Jamie Foxx)
whom he dubs “John.” “Little John” saying, “I
chose you”, teaches him archery, martial arts, and skill with a
“street weapon.” Real baaad.
The usual cast of characters turns up, though unrecognizable in this version. Marian (Eve Hewson) is a rabble-rousing, peasant hottie. Friar Tuck (Tim Minchin) is svelte and sweet. Will Scarlet (Jamie Dornan) is a career oriented family man. The Church is more corrupt than ever. And the Sheriff of Nottingham (Ben Mendelsohn) has a backstory explaining how he got to be so mean.
The plot strays a bit from our internal template of how we remember Robin Hood, tracking better with a Marxist worldview. Instead of the arcadian setting of a lush Sherwood Forest, we're inserted into a dark urban environment. There's blatant inequality in the distribution of wealth between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, which Robin “The Hood” personally seeks to remedy. Man is alienated from the world through his toilsome labor in the mines. The cold Church is very much the opiate of the people. As Marx predicted there's an inevitable spontaneous revolt of the peasants against their rich despoilers.
Ideology
As a children's tale it sticks to the lesson not to be a thief, though it be under an official blind eye. It's the same lesson as in the ordinary sense: (Prov. 1:10-19) “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.” The peasants are being starved to death through excessive taxation, and that's going to ultimately come down on their oppressors.
There is a special instruction that John the Baptist gave to soldiers, here applicable to the crusaders or ex-crusaders. (Luke 3:14) “And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.” Excessive violence was expressed through enhanced interrogation. False accusation was leveled against Friar Tuck by a returned crusader—albeit as part of a larger intrigue. A soldier's discontent with his wages is likely to result in his plundering for personal gain. An example can be taken from a Jack Reacher novel:
“I want to know how he's paying his rent,” Reacher said. “He's a private soldier. He doesn't have a savings plan. See if the movement orders overlap with any cold-case property crimes. He got his seed money somehow” (214).
Production Values
“” (2018) was directed by Otto Bathurst. Its screenplay was written by Ben Chandler and David James Kelly. It stars Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx, and Ben Mendelsohn. As long as they kept up their action roles there wasn't much challenge for an actor. Action eclipsed everything else (medieval history, military science, familiar legend, etc.)
MPAA rated it PG–13 for extended sequences of violence and action, and some suggestive references. The music was a continual pounding.
Review Conclusion w/ Christian Recommendation
This would be a great movie for someone who locks himself in his basement and plays video war games all day long. Give him a chance to get out of the house. And he'd feel right at home. If your date likes it there's something wrong with her.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Edge of your seat action-packed fighting. Suitability for Children: Suitable for children 13+ years with guidance. Video Occasion: None of the Above. Special effects: Amazing special effects. Suspense: Suspenseful sequences. Overall movie rating: Three stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611. Rev. 1769. Software.
Child, Lee. Night School. A Jack Reacher novel. New York: Delacorte Press, 2016. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org