Robin Hood Parent Guide

Lord Robin of Loxley (Taran Egerton), an open-handed aristocrat, lives a life of luxury in Nottingham, with a gorgeous hilltop mansion, sizeable estate, and beautiful girlfriend, Marian (Eve Hewson). However, his world is thrown into disarray when he is drafted by the Sheriff of Nottingham to serve in the Third Crusade. There Robin meets a brilliant Muslim warrior, later a prisoner of war whose name is Anglicized to “John” and is played by Jamie Foxx. When Robin runs afoul of his fellow Crusaders for objecting to the killing and torture of captives, he is sent back to England, with John stowing away on his ship. Back in Nottingham, he finds that the Sheriff has declared him dead, repossessed his manor, and taxed the locals to a state of dire poverty. However, with the help of John, Friar Tuck (Tim Minchin) and Marian, Robin dons a hood and seeks justice from the evil Sheriff.

Robin Hood is an action film, but the violence is surprisingly restrained: although many people die on screen it is usually relatively free of blood and gore. Profanity is also mercifully limited and the film avoids the temptation to have medieval characters drop contemporary cusses every third word. Parents will also be pleased that this production also refrains from any salacious sexual escapades involving our young and charming hero.

While these content issues are better than we would normally expect in an action film, Robin Hood comes with another set of problems. The film’s opening narration tells us twice to “forget history” because it would “bore us”. Since I studied history at university, that rankles more than a little. However, it is certainly advice the screenwriters took to heart: among other substantial and annoying ahistorical details, we have a draft for nobility in the Third Crusade (definitely not a thing), machine-gun style crossbows, and some clearly brilliant off-screen medical care that can completely cure an arrow wound in the gut in a matter of hours. This might not bother other moviegoers as much as it does me, but it is a missed opportunity to embrace all of the real weirdness of medieval England in favor of some poorly considered modern weirdness.

The saving grace of the movie is that Taran Egerton and Jamie Foxx generate enough charm to power a large city. When things get too silly, Egerton’s winning grin and cocky wink telegraph to the audience, “I know, but ain’t it fun?”. And he’s not wrong. Robin Hood is a high-speed action thriller, and it’s sure to be a hit with teens and fans of action films, provided they aren’t history nerds. If you don’t mind a modernized medieval story playing fast and loose with familiar characters and plot elements, you’ll probably have a good time. For history purists, this is going to feel more like Robin Hood has robbed from history to give to the action genre.