The Death of Robin Hood: Hugh Jackman Excels in A24's Grim Reimagining

Michael Sarnoski takes the Robin Hood legend far from swashbuckling myth, recasting the archer as a barbaric, bloodthirsty butcher who commits acts as brutal as stabbing a teenage girl in the neck and shooting an arrow through a boy’s eye. The film frames that savagery within a cycle of violence that can only be broken by confronting the truth of who this man really is, though the larger ideas unfurl at a leisurely pace that sometimes stalls the narrative.

Hugh Jackman dominates the film, unrestrained in scenes of savage brutality and deeply anguished as his character attempts to atone. The opening battles, shot in Northern Ireland and staged with DP Pat Scola, are down-in-the-muck affairs that spare neither flying arrows nor axes carving into flesh, setting a raw tone that makes Robin’s path to redemption feel long and fraught.

United Kingdom, Northern Ireland

robin hood, hugh jackman, michael sarnoski, a24, pat scola, northern ireland, brutality, redemption, violence, film review