In the autumn of his life and set in the Winter of northern England 1247, we first see the grey bearded Robin by a camp fire at night. His heavy layered clothes filthy with the mud of the landscape. Approached by a desperate young woman begging for food, he throws her a meaty morsel in the whistling wind. Later when he seems asleep, she creeps up on him from behind with the intention to rob or worse but she's met with a lightning dagger to the side of the throat. "I smelled you coming" he murmurs, as he twists the knife and ends her life.
The next morning in the falling snow we see him burying the diminutive body under a pile of rocks. The view from directly above pans away and we see multiple graves on the hillside. This is not the Merry Man of whom we've been told many good stories. He is a ruthless murderer and every death shows on his drawn, grizzly face.
Later that day, a tall, blood-stained man looms menacingly out of the mist. He recognises the silhouette as his old comrade Little John (Bill Skarsgård). "I need your help." He then goes on to spin a tale of a redheaded wife and daughter that he's been forced to leave behind on a small holding not far away, by her angry kinsman. "They are my life." Robin agrees to help and clutching his trusty bow and arrows, they both prepare for a surprise raid under the cover of the coming night.
If you've seen The Northman (2022), starring Bills Brother, Alexander Skarsgård, then that experience should tell you enough about the graphic mud, blood and violence at the beginning of this film. But I don't think that I could have sat comfortably through a full two hours and twenty minutes of that, as it would be a relentless. Even though the fighting is all in context, thankfully the pace changes about a third of the way through when John has to take his badly wounded and delirious comrade to an island of refuge. He says that the Priory of St Clement is run by a prioress who has magical healing powers. Robin is left on the front step of the ancient looking stone facade as John and his young daughter immediately leave to row back to the mainland.
When he wakes the next morning in a quiet room and comfortable bed, his wounds bandaged and a wooden splint on his broken leg, Robin sees properly the kind and young face of the prioress that took him in for the first time. The clean, headscarved and smiling visage belongs to Jodie Comer. She asks his name. He deliberately lies: "Randolph". "Bridget." She replies. A short montage of rehab begins as with a strong wooden crutch we see the bearded man slowly regaining his strength. One day she says "go as far as you please". He slowly hobbles out of the quiet room to explore the castle like priory. The breeze is gentle and the bright sun is warm on his face. It must be Spring now. There are other nuns and children playing in the garden behind the Priory. In his mind he feels it's time for some reflection regarding the choices he has made in his later life.
There is a heavily bandaged leper on the island too played by Murray Bartlett but you only see his eyes. He initially warns Randolph not to harm anyone there, under threat of death, but eventually things become amicable. There is definitely good on-screen chemistry between Jackman and Comer. Both chameleons in the many various roles they've inhabited thus far, they, and the whole cast play totally credible characters in this harsh, mid thirteenth century England backdrop. A special mention for the young actor Faith Delaney who plays John's daughter, Little Margaret, who's return to the island later galvanises Robin's determination to make those positive changes in his remaining life.
The cinematography throughout is excellent and the rugged island location looks especially stunning on the big screen. Without giving away any spoilers the clue is in the title, so nothing really to hide here, but the story is compelling and I'm glad that the master archer aspect still plays an important part. All in all, I felt that this was quite a bit better than the last few Robin Hood centric feature film offerings we've had to endure.
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