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Robin Hood (2018)
Slightly Anachronistic and Revisionist, Lacking in any Sophistication, but not Unwatchable
While at first this movie seems to aim off the mark, once you accept the movie for what it is and understand its flow (if you can), you realize that it hits the bull's-eye on being an offbeat, anachronistic, revisionist Historical Action/Suspense Drama. The dialogue is fairly uncultured and unintelligent -- borderline soapy at times -- but it never pretends to be more sophisticated than it is. Though the dialogue is throughly pedestrian, the locales, sets, wardrobes, and visuals are all rich with detail and variety. Granted, the fashions and architecture are in many instances unfitting if viewed through the lens of historical accuracy, but it is clear from the outset that historical accuracy is not one of the movie's goals.
The plot, though nothing ambitious, manages to be a little unpredictable by virtue of not adhering too closely to the source material but intentionally detouring a number of times in pursuit of a fresh take on things (for better or worse -- usually (regrettably) the latter). The messaging of the film is preachy and worn on its sleeve, and while shades of grey are cast liberally on the protagonists and deuteragonists to (though meagerly) flesh them out, the same courtesy is not extended to any of the antagonists, leaving them utterly corrupt, duplicitous, mercenary, uncaring, and without conscience, painting a very stark picture of "heroes, broken but ultimately good; villains, cosmically and unequivocally evil beyond repair", which is a lazy depiction of any cast of characters or societal structure, at best. It's uncertain if the filmmakers set out to make a shallow story of 'good versus evil' and were set upon subverting whatever they could to achieve those ends, or if they had an agenda of "making it clear" that, just as in their contrived narrative for this film, all government is bound to become corrupt (and once corrupt, ruthless and two-faced to its core) and virtually all religious institutions are evil incarnate, hellbent on attaining power, influence and adulation, and committed to employing whatever falsehoods, cruelties and treacheries are at their disposal to arrive at those ends. I'd like to think the filmmakers are not so shallow as to think corruption is something only institutions, organizations, and governments are subject to, or that the only time someone can truly be evil is when they join the ranks of those in wealth or power, for it's common sense that anyone has the capacity for good or evil in his heart, and no matter his rank or position in life, can cause harms great and small. I'm simply hoping they only set out to tell a tale of good-vs-evil (no matter where either may sprout up), and that they simply hammed it up a bit much.
So in review, this is a weird, offbeat, unintelligent mess of a film... but it's still fun and visually appealing. It's a completely skippable movie, but a once-through should prove to be not without some enjoyment.
5.5/10.0
(PS: sorry for the sloppy and impromptu structure of this review; I was mostly jotting down whatever sentiments and takeaways were present in my head while the movie was still fresh in my mind.)