The Death of Robin Hood (2026)

Plot of The Death of Robin Hood: It is 1247. Robin Hood, now an old man lives in the hills of northern England, occasionally killing anyone who comes at him for previous wrongs. He is visited by Little John, now known as Edward, a farmer.  Edward persuades Robin to assist him in the recovery of a farm which in previous years he had managed to take from the landholders, and subsequently married and had a daughter. Now the farm has been taken back and the wife and daughter held. Edward persuades Robin to help him recover the farm. They do, but Edward’s wife is killed and subsequently the clan come after Robin and in a fight with heavy weapons he is seriously injured. Edward takes him to an island priory whose abbess is known as a healer. Sure enough Robin his healed, but is now known as Randolph, concealing his past, which he admits has been bloody and terrible. He has enjoyed being an assassin. He becomes a hunter for the priory and befriends a leper who is the caretaker. Margaret, Edward’s daughter arrives with news that Edward has been killed and a young man Arthur also takes up residence, Robin suspecting that he is one of the clan out for revenge.

Content: No sex or nudity. There is a moment of female masturbation, but without prompting by the Wikipedia page I would probably have missed it. In the opening scene a young woman attempts revenge on Robin but he easily kills her. Later Robin and Edward are involved in fights with various weapons, mostly in the dark or in shadows of firelight. So a lot of confusion. Robin is injured by a man even bigger than him with a mace which, honestly, should have killed him. Once at the priory we have daylight but quite a bit of rowing across to the mainland, which must have taken ages. The daughter arrives and Robin teaches her how to make a bow and how to hunt. He has to face up to the young man, Arthur, quite a bit, successfully determining that he is a threat.

A View: This is one of those films which I mentally describe as ‘incestuous’. For a start the director was also the writer and a producer. Hugh Jackman as well as being the star is also a producer. There are downsides to this collection of responsibilities in my view. It reduces the creative input. I have written plays but prefer not to direct them because getting someone else to direct gets a new view of the production (at no extra cost in amateur theatricals). But let’s face it, this Robin Hood story is a glum production in an unusually bleak Britain, so if you choose to watch it, be prepared.

Fun Fact: My wife described it as a film which you might recommend to someone you did not like very much.