Writers/producers John Glenn and Jonathan English's Robin Hood has proven a thrilling, MGM+ redux, consisting of ten episodes and layered with tradition and some new twists for distinction.
Robin Hood 2025, which aired its season finale on December 28, stars Jack Patten as the lead, aka Robert "Rob" Locksley; Tom (Sleepy Hollow) Mison as his father, Hugh; Lauren McQueen as Maid Marian; Sean (Lord of the Rings/Game of Thrones) Bean as the Sheriff of Nottingham; Lydia Peckman as Priscilla of Nottingham; Marcus Frasier as Little John; Angus (The King's Man/Bloods) Castle-Doughty as Friar Tuck; Henry Rowley as Will Gamewell Scarlet; Erica Ford as "Ralph," aka Rosemary Miller; Davor Tomic as Guy of Guisborne, Steve (Tarzan and the Lost City/Last of the Mohicans 1992) Waddington as the Earl of Huttington; and the ever youthful Connie (Gladiator I & II/Nobody 1 & 2) Nielsen as the shrewd and alluring Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.
They're all quite good in their roles, even with those "clever" variances strewn here and there. (For example, Tuck is a thin chap this time.) The setup is also sound and at times, rather grounded, and for me, identifiable. I reside in New Jersey, where being taxed beyond absurdity is the vexing norm, and Heaven forbid if one should complain about such, because one will sure as hell be labeled a rotten person by the appointed, self-serving magistrates ... yeah, just like in Nottingham, just like in this series. (For what it's worth, I live a mere hop and a skip from a place called Nottingham Way. Yeah, Robin Hood and I are, indeed, kindred souls.)
With that said (and considering that this Robin Hood isn't a confined movie), there are many more in-betweens stitched in, one of which made me nervous at first. You see, Mison's Hugh Locksley is planted right in the heart of the Anglo/Norman rift, and as such, Christianity is painted as something antagonistic (an unsettling no-no, in my book), but Tuck eases the mismarking soon enough with sheer, compassionate logic, helping the pagans, the Merry Men of Sherwood Forest, withstand the injustice aimed at them. (Tuck is presented as a sincere Christian who exposes the hypocrites for what they are.)
Getting back to the Merry Men ... well, they're not all men, of course. Maid Marian sure isn't, but she's always stood for the tax-battling cause that Robin and his men uphold, and then there's Ralph, who's a girl disguised as a boy. That throws things some, even if the ruse is obvious as hell. The tactic reminded me of Dragonslayer's Valerian, and like that cloaked maiden, this one is fun to watch as she wavers between smitten lass and tenacious fighter.
Marian and Priscilla flesh out the more direct romance, but even on their ends, it never becomes overbearing (being more come-and-go sexual than not; yeah, this is a hot-to-trot Robin Hood, for sure). The contrast in their characters underscores the social-political extremes that discern Nottingham, so from an allegorical perspective, their inclusion for this retelling works well to the legend's point.
On the downside, there's not enough Mison, and he's always damn good (and I still maintain, he'd have made, or still would make, a great Doctor for the Whovian sect.) In addition to his brevity, there's lots of dialogue, most of which is sensible and pertinent to the plot, but there are times when the weight of words feels more like overstuffed padding. If padding was required, I'd have preferred it to be action-oriented.
And what of the action? It's more than satisfactory, with well choregraphed, sword-and-arrow play that holds a sleek, old-time, cinematic look, especially during the season's final episode, though when all is said and done, this MGM+ offering is a far cry from Douglas Fairbanks, Erol Flynn and Richard Greene or for that matter, Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe and Taryn Egerton. To me, the MGM+ Robin Hood bounces among these incarnations, grabbing a smidgeon from each (and even beyond the cited six, if one considers the vastness of Robin Hood's hardy, cinematic run), building a version that remains its own.
The verdict: MGM+'s Robin Hood is fulfilling escapism, one that makes it easy to root for Patton's conscientious hero as he battles Bean's stubborn Sherriff, who's quite a nuanced villain, but never presented as one with whom sympathy is required. (How refreshing!)
The message: If you tax people to death, if you make their lives nothing but miserable, you deserve all the hisses and boos that come your way, and if you stand against that villainy, you deserve all the cheers and applause you can get. This Robin Hood handles both sides of the coin with regal grace, and for that, I'd like to see more, and yes, the door's wide open for that, if MGM+'s execs should so choose.
