Robin Hood - Failed attempt at a childhood favorite

Some stories are almost impossible to retell because they are so engraved in people’s minds. Robin Hood is one of these folk tales that to create an innovative piece, the production company has to combat preconceived notions of a character. For instance, there are some people who will see this famous thief and Errol Flynn being the same person because of the 1938 classic ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood.’ Nevertheless, BBC has recently attempted to retell the story of Robin Hood for the small screen, with a series bearing the same title as the main character.

‘Robin Hood’ is the story about a nobleman (Jonas Armstrong) who goes off to war in the Crusades fighting for the honorable King Richard. Upon returning home to the village of Loxley, he finds out the old Sheriff of Nottingham was removed and a new cruel sheriff was put into power by King Richard’s evil brother, King Edward. After ridiculous taxes are implemented, and a few scuffles with the law, Robin Hood is forced to escape to Sherwood Forest where he steals from the rich and gives to the poor, all while saving innocent villagers from tyranny.

Sadly, this new version of the best archer in England brings nothing new or interesting to light. The only big difference between this adaptation of Robin Hood and his predecessors is that instead of being madly in love with the Maid Marion, he is a smooth talking womanizer who at one point attempted to pick up the beautiful daughter of a local farmer. Tack on his desire not to watch anyone else die and you have a very bland, stereotypical character which becomes ridiculous to watch for a whole hour.

Not only is the story a drag, being horribly paced and a repetition of older variations, but the special effects are a joke. Every time the scene takes place in a new village, an out of place bleep goes off and a comical effect of moving text comes across the screen with new location being posted. The only thing the director might have been thinking was that if he added such a jarring sound, it would wake someone up from dozing off from watching the show.

Also the fight scenes are more humorous than anything. From people waving their swords around like they are in a Hong Kong martial arts movie, to the sheriff’s soldiers attacking in groups of one to two even though there are many other soldiers around, all the action sequences feel like jokes. Even if the director was going for a whimsical look, having such jovial fight scenes becomes almost unbearable at a certain point. The question might come up of why the sheriff doesn’t just use all his archers available and shoot Robin.

Moving forward the show really has to start capitalizing on the many different facets of the story of Robin Hood. The storyline could be broken down into the simplest form of a thief stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, but there’s so much more involved in England at the time. There’s civil unrest, class discrimination and other various socioeconomic issues that could be addressed. And while there is a notion that Robin Hood is supposed to be happy with his merry men, there’s also a level of seriousness that has to be involved. It’d be impressive to see someone be happy while almost on the brink of death if this was reality.

Unless the writers bring something novel and enlightening to the story, or at least make the fight scenes more intense, the television will not be tuned into be catching ‘Robin Hood’ on a weekly basis. There’s only so much  of a single faced character a person can take before watching becomes dull and boring. The show doesn’t necessarily have to be the next ‘Spartacus’ blood and sex fun fest but at least give the series something intriguing to watch.