“I am a monster…”
Hugh Jackman delivers one of his best performances in this dismantling of a legend that so many of us have held dear since childhood. Backed by Northern Ireland Screen, The Death of Robin Hood is a must for fans of the grown-up Marvel in the Jackman-starring Logan and lovers of John Wayne’s final film, The Shootist, but the chances of it being a crowd-puller are as remote as the island at the centre of the story.
A must for fans of the grown-up Marvel in the Hugh Jackman-starring Logan and lovers of John Wayne’s final film, The Shootist
In 1247, the aged Robin (Jackman) is still a fugitive – now hiding out from the relatives of people he murdered in his prime. The latest spiral of bloodshed sees him left in the care of Sister Brigid (Jodie Comer), a prioress who, it is said, has healing powers. Here, the ghosts of the past can only be kept at bay for so long.
In a film all about crossing paths with people who can change the course of the rest of your life, Jackman has found a worthy collaborator in writer-director Michael Sarnoski (A Quiet Place: Day One, Pig), and it would be a pity if they didn’t work together again. This meditation on the price of violence for both aggressor and survivor gets its grisly scenes out of the way in the opening third, then moves towards the light as Jackman’s Robin wrestles with the physical and mental toll of time’s audit. It’s a fool’s game to spend the rest of The Death of Robin Hood expecting set-pieces; they won’t appear, but something more profound will, which does justice to the double meaning of the title.
A film all about crossing paths with people who can change the course of the rest of your life
As well as being a CV win for Jackman and Sarnoski (whatever the box office), this is another big-screen showcase for the island of Ireland. The Mourne Mountains, Glenarm Bay, and the Rock of Cashel look stunning through the lens of Sarnoski’s go-to cinematographer Pat Scola.
That damp, it gets into your bones – just like this film.