This is a brutal, yet beautiful film. As difficult as some scenes are, we became completely engaged. Hugh Jackman impressively transforms into a character unlike anything he’s done before portraying the opposite of the good Robin Hood we all think of. This Robin Hood is a bloody violent outlaw and that tone is set from the very beginning.
Written and Directed by Michael Sarnoski, it is based on the 17th Century ballad, Robin Hood’s Death set in 1247. This transformation from murderous pirate to finding inner humanity is captivating. Jackman’s beastly makeup was created by Pamela S. Westmore (of the Westmore century-old dynasty) who has worked with Jackman several times before. (Prisoners, The Sheep Detectives, Real Steel)
The violent tone is set from the get go. Robin is sitting in the wilderness eating a cooked rabbit when a young girl comes up. She is the daughter of a couple he has killed. She wants revenge, but he kills her instead and buries her by others who have tried to do the same.
Little John (Bill Skarsgård) his bestie and compatriot, now a farmer, wants Robin to help fight the men who took his farm, wife Margaret (Katie Breen) and daughter, Little Margaret (Faith Delaney). They are able to save his daughter, Margaret, but his wife is killed and the farm is burned down. To keep their identities under wraps, Robin goes by Randolph and Little John goes by Edward. They find and fight the men who caused the mayhem.
More grizzly violence ensues with Robin gravely wounded in the process. Little John takes Little Margaret and Robin to a remote island cloister to try to keep him alive. Sister Brigid (Jodie Comer) is a healer/bloodletter who lives at this isolated nunnery. As Robin is being treated, he and Brigid establish a connection. Little Margaret becomes attached to Robin as well. Faith Delaney is excellent emotionally depicting her trauma and vulnerability after losing her family. She and Robin become close. Robin also gets lessons in empathy from the grotesquely infected leper, Guy of Gisborne, (Murray Bartlett). He is drawn to the diseased man’s beautiful soul and intellect.
Director Sarnoski has the visuals shot by Cinematographer Pat Scola (Sing, Sing, Pig) juxtapose the disturbingly raw fight scenes, with the gentle and serene atmosphere at the cloister. This is a life Robin never imagined, with tender care and attention he had never experienced.
Jodie Comer is equal to Jackman, exquisite in a complicated, controlled role. Her backstory late in the film gives an emotional punch contrary the violent bandit’s tale. This reimagining of the Robin Hood we knew, takes you on an unexpected adventure.
