Bullet Points: Robin Hood: The Rebellion

Robin Hood is on a list of legendary characters that Hollywood and pop culture at large never seem to get enough of… the list includes names like Hercules, The Three Musketeers and Tarzan. You can go back and look through all the decades and you will find at least one movie, live action television show or animated series featuring these iconic heroes. Some times you get multiple projects in the same year, like in 2014 when we got three Hercules movies.

Well if 2014 was the year of Hercules, it appears 2018 is the year of Robin Hood… the latest retelling of the Robin Hood tale comes to us in the form of Nicholas Winter’s Robin Hood: The Rebellion…

• The Tale: If you know anything about Robin Hood, you already know the gist of what Robin Hood: The Rebellion is about. Robin Hood (Ben Freeman) finds himself and a band of not so merry men and their families hiding out in Sherwood Forest. Robin Hood is quickly becoming the unofficial leader of a rebellion against the tyrannical Sheriff of Nottingham. But not everyone is on board with Robin Hood and his methods of standing up to the Sheriff, most notably Little John (Jamie Kenna)… but when the Sheriff sends out some of his minions to capture Robin Hood’s main squeeze Maid Marian (Marie Everett). Little John is one of the three men who join Robin Hood on what could very well be a suicide mission to storm the Sheriff’s castle.

• The Characters: The success or failure of the retelling of a classic tale like Robin Hood falls squarely on the shoulders of the actors who are bringing the characters and the story to life. I am happy to report that James Oliver Wheatley, who played the Sheriff of Nottingham, came to win. I despised Wheatley’s Nottingham from his first scene where he was interrogating a farmer who had secretly been supplying Robin Hood and the rebels with grain… he threatens to kill the farmer, the farmer’s wife and even the farmer’s kids. He set the tone for the level of evil the baddies would be in this film and his cousin/right hand man the Guy of Grisborne (James Groom) was not far behind on the list of guys that I could not wait to see them get their comeuppance… The nastiness of Nottingham and Grisborne made it easy to get behind Ben Freeman’s Robin Hood. But you won’t find yourself rooting for Freeman simply by default, Freeman’s Robin Hood is focused and filled with conviction and determination. This Robin Hood may lack the sizzle of some more gregarious heroes, but he’s got plenty of steak… The big surprise for me was the Maid Marion character. Marion may be positioned as the classic damsel in distress, but she dishes out as much distress as she takes. Marion is absolutely fearless.

• The Action: Robin Hood: The Rebellion keeps things basic and believable and does not feature any extreme over the top action. One of the best series of events find our heroes trying to break into the armory after they have infiltrated Nottingham’s fortress. The armory is guarded by a massive baddie named Beast (played by the 7 foot tall Phil Martin). Now if Robin and his friends hope to have any chance at victory they need to get into the armory, but getting through the Beast is no easy task… but somehow they manage. The only problem is once our heroes get in to the armory, they can’t get out, as more and more villains are waiting outside for them and business really picks up… The movie doubles down on the monster heels as Robin later squares off with Brimstone (Martyn Ford, Accident Man), one of the final obstacles before we get the Robin Hood/Sheriff of Nottingham confrontation. Ford’s Brimstone is a spectacle and if there was such a thing as Robin Hood: The Rebellion action figures, I feel like every kid would want the Brimstone figure.

When it was all said and done, I enjoyed Robin Hood: The Rebellion. Admittedly I am not a Robin Hood enthusiast so I did not have the comparison mentality that a Robin Hood enthusiast may have so this may have made me an easier viewer to please. How can I compare it to the more famous and bigger budgeted Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves if I never saw that movie? (The Bryan Adams music video was enough for me)… But still to enjoy a movie from a genre that I don’t normally gravitate towards says something about the quality of the movie and the efforts of those who were a part of it.

I may not be a Robin Hood enthusiast, but I am damn sure a Bonus Bullet Points enthusiast…

• Familiar Face: As a big fan of 1980’s Flash Gordon, I was thrilled to see Brian Blessed in the role of Friar Tuck. Blessed brought the same charm and charisma he brought when playing Lord Voltan in Flash Gordon to his role as Friar Tuck in Robin Hood: The Rebellion. But one question, was Friar Tuck always blind!?!?
• Friend of the Year: When Robin Hood decides he is going to storm the Sheriff of Nottingham’s castle the first guy to say he’s going with is Robin’s boy Will Scarlett (James G. Nunn). For his no hesitation response, I am nominating Will Scarlett for the coveted Friend of the Year award.
• If You Ever: …wanted to see some of the Sheriff of Notthingham’s minions stripped naked and left in Sherwood Forest asses up, then this is the movie for you.
• Written and Directed By: Nicholas Winter pulled double duty on Robin Hood: The Rebellion serving as both the writer and director.
• The Rebellion Continues: The mentions of what the King will have to say about what went down between Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham, definitely gave me the impression that a sequel could be coming our way.