If one thing could be said of 2018’s Robin Hood, it’s that it was poorly received.
The movie sits at a depressing 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus being that the film “robs from rich source material, but is ultimately just another poor attempt to needlessly gussy up a classic tale with amped-up action and modern special effects”. Ouch.
If the scathing reviews around the time weren’t enough, then yet more criticism has come forth a year after its release. This time, it’s from Robin Hood himself, Taron Egerton.
The 30-year-old actor, who recently appeared on Variety‘s Big Ticket Podcast, claimed he “wasn’t very happy on set”, adding, “I wasn’t very happy making it”.
In fact, according to the Robin Hood star, it was the Powers-That-Be working on the film that fueled its demise. “It was pitched to me in a different way. I think it was made by committee and lost its vision.”
By “committee”, it appears he means the movie’s production companies. Robin Hood was tied to four companies; Summit Entertainment, Appian Way Productions, Safehouse Pictures, and Thunder Road films. It was distributed by Lionsgate.
This is hardly the first time that Executive meddling has damaged the quality of films. In fact, it’s prevalent throughout Hollywood. After Tim Burton’s Batman Returns didn’t quite do as well as thought, Warner Bros. replaced Burton with Joel Schumacher and aimed for a lighter direction with a more merchandising appeal for the franchise. The results didn’t turn out well, with Batman Forever and Batman & Robin generally considered terrible offerings compared to Burton’s.
Robin Hood is a different kind of franchise, however, in that it is within the public domain. This means that despite the 2018 flick’s commercial failure (and no hope of a sequel), some studio will undoubtedly try their hand at adapting the legend again.
Until then, perhaps stick with Kevin Costner.
What did you think of Robin Hood? Do you think it deserves as much hate as it gets? Share your thoughts in the comments below.