Movie lovers and archery lovers: Are you ready for this? Lionsgate will soon introduce a new protector of Sherwood Forest with its revamped “Robin Hood” movie. The new film, titled “Robin Hood,” stars Taron Egerton in the titular role, alongside Jamie Foxx as Little John. The movie debuts Nov. 21.
The trailer shows that “Robin Hood” is packed with abundant archery action. It features longbows, crossbows, trick shots, exploding arrows and a super-rad training montage. And that’s just the trailer. We can only imagine what other intense archery skills this film will bring to archery’s pop-culture side. By this time next year, we might even see a new Robin Hood costume, courtesy of this movie.
The Telegraph says “Robin Hood” has been described as a “dark, revisionist prequel to the historical story.” Jamie Foxx told Entertainment Weekly that the film’s visuals are reminiscent of another hit. “The way they shot it was crazy,” Foxx said. “It looks like you’re watching Zero Dark Thirty.” Foxx says. The simplicity of the bows paired with the power of quick shots makes a cool cinematic experience. And that’s not even the best part.
Though the trailer highlights some unbelievable archery skills, viewers should get ready to believe it. That’s really Egerton shooting those arrows. He trained with the world’s fastest archer, Lars Andersen, to make the film’s archery scenes as authentic as possible. All of the actors put in the work to deliver genuine, historically accurate archery.
The director, Otto Bathurst, brought in multiple archery experts to train the cast. Egerton trained with both hands on a longbow to make sure Robin Hood’s quick-fire skills were on target. He can be seen in the video shooting two targets in the air back to back. In the movie, Robin Hood trains to shoot with the rapid speed of ancient Arabic archers. Andersen trained Egerton to not only make the shots, but to make them in a historically accurate time. Impressive, right? The cast was dedicated to the sport and wanted to do it justice.
Egerton’s training looks daunting, but he’s no stranger to the psychical demands of action movies. Some viewers might recognize him from his previous film franchise, “Kingsman,” where he played a young, aspiring secret agent named Eggsy. Egerton was involved in some serious power battles in both films. The dilemmas of good and evil are in his character. In the trailer, viewers see Egerton’s ability to exude boyish charm, even in tense situations. Filmmakers at Lionsgate wanted so badly for Egerton to play Robin Hood that they delayed production by a year so he could finish his role in “Kingsman.”
Foxx shows equal prowess in action movies, as seen in his previous film, “Django Unchained.” Foxx also brings humor to his roles. His portrayal of Little John should be good. And what would a Robin Hood tale be without Maid Marian? Marian will be played by Bono’s daughter, Eve Hewson. Where previous Robin Hood portrayals by Russel Crowe and Cate Blanchett painted an intense, dramatic romance, this version of Robin Hood suggests a more playful relationship.
Though the archery is historically accurate, the rest of the film is not. It features some modern clothing that would have never been worn during Medieval times. Viewers might also notice the film’s muted, grungy colors and Medieval-inspired, yet somehow still-fashionable knitwear harken to the 2017 remake of “King Arthur.” Maybe that’s because this film was written by Joby Harold, one of the men who wrote King Arthur. Who doesn’t love a good action-packed Medieval-themed movie, especially one with wickedly good archery?
We love a good archery-driven movie and “Robin Hood” (2018) looks like it won’t disappoint. Take a trip to the theater with your own band of merry men/women, and watch some quality shooting on the big screen.
