Tag Archives: Taron Egerton

Robin Hood Trailer #1 (2018) *Look for the Hood*

While this looks nowhere near as egregious an error as last year’s King Arthur nightmare, I’m curious as to why Hollywood keeps feeling the need to “reinvent” stories like Robin Hood.  The character has been around for hundreds of years, has been interpreted dozens of times, and will be again, but there always seems to a need to rework a story that’s worked just fine: make it gritty and modern, give it attitude, whatever.  Those aren’t the things about the story or the character that have made it endure.  You CAN update a character and retain those qualities (BBC’s Sherlock did it and managed to produce the best adaptation of Holmes in my lifetime).  For more on the latest Robin Hood, read below and look for the Hood in November 2018.


In the film, a war-hardened Crusader and a Moorish commander mount an audacious revolt against the corrupt English crown in a thrilling action-adventure. Packed with gritty battlefield exploits, mind-blowing fight choreography, and a timeless romance, Robin Hood is a never before seen story of how Robin Hood became the icon and legend as we know him today.

The cast for the new Robin Hood includes Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Eddie the Eagle) as the title hero, with Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained, Ray) as Little John, Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades of Grey) as Will Scarlet, Eve Hewson (Bridge of Spies) as Maid Marion, Tim Minchin (Californication) as Friar Tuck, and Paul Anderson (Peaky Blinders, The Revenant) as Guy of Gisborne.

Described as having a “gritty tone,” the film finds Robin Hood returning from The Crusades to discover a Sherwood Forest rife with corruption and evil. Teaming with a band of outlaws, he takes matters into his own hands to set things right, with very little merry-making along the way.

Otto Bathurst directs from a screenplay by Joby Harold. Robin Hood is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson Killoran, Basil Iwanyk, Tory Tunnell and Joby Harold. It will arrive in theaters on November 21, 2018.

Taron Egerton in Robin Hood

Robin Hood Teaser #1 (2018) *Look for the Hood*


While this looks nowhere near as egregious an error as last year’s King Arthur nightmare, I’m curious as to why Hollywood keeps feeling the need to “reinvent” stories like Robin Hood.  The character has been around for hundreds of years, has been interpreted dozens of times, and will be again, but there always seems to a need to rework a story that’s worked just fine: make it gritty and modern, give it attitude, whatever.  Those aren’t the things about the story or the character that have made it endure.  You CAN update a character and retain those qualities (BBC’s Sherlock did it and managed to produce the best adaptation of Holmes in my lifetime).  For more on the latest Robin Hood, read below and look for the Hood in November 2018.

In the film, a war-hardened Crusader and a Moorish commander mount an audacious revolt against the corrupt English crown in a thrilling action-adventure. Packed with gritty battlefield exploits, mind-blowing fight choreography, and a timeless romance, Robin Hood is a never before seen story of how Robin Hood became the icon and legend as we know him today.

The cast for the new Robin Hood includes Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Eddie the Eagle) as the title hero, with Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained, Ray) as Little John, Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades of Grey) as Will Scarlet, Eve Hewson (Bridge of Spies) as Maid Marion, Tim Minchin (Californication) as Friar Tuck, and Paul Anderson (Peaky Blinders, The Revenant) as Guy of Gisborne.

Described as having a “gritty tone,” the film finds Robin Hood returning from The Crusades to discover a Sherwood Forest rife with corruption and evil. Teaming with a band of outlaws, he takes matters into his own hands to set things right, with very little merry-making along the way.

Otto Bathurst directs from a screenplay by Joby Harold. Robin Hood is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson Killoran, Basil Iwanyk, Tory Tunnell and Joby Harold. It will arrive in theaters on November 21, 2018.


Taron Egerton in Robin Hood

Movie Review: Eddie the Eagle (2016) *Worst Olympian Ever is Still an Olympian*

Eddie Edwards, Taron Egerton, Eddie The Eagle
The 2016 Summer Olympics will begin a week from tomorrow in Rio.  Those games will undoubtedly be the swansong of the greatest Olympian (in terms of medals won) of all-time: Michael Phelps.  If you were to try to find his polar opposite in the annals of Olympic lore, a very good case could be made for British ski jumper Eddie Edwards.  The 1988 Winter Olympics were a strange games, producing the infamous Jamaican bobsled team (for which there is a great movie in Cool Runnings) and Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards.  The ski jumper became a polarizing figure in 1988 when only after a brief time in the sport, he slipped through some rule oversights not corrected in half a century and onto the British Olympic Team.  He finished last (spoiler), but I’m not sure anyone has ever been happier to be an Olympian or more embodied the determination to push yourself to your personal best than Edwards.  He now has his own film to complete the Calgary Olympics Weird Stories Boxset with Eddie the Eagle. Continue reading Movie Review: Eddie the Eagle (2016) *Worst Olympian Ever is Still an Olympian*

Movie Review: Kingsman-The Secret Service (2015) *Manners. Maketh. Man.*

Kingsman: The Secret Service

 

Mark Millar makes me nuts.  I should probably be more specific on that for those of you who dated in high school.  Mark Millar is a very successful comic book writer.  He’s also been very successful in getting his creator-owned projects (Wanted, Kick Ass) made into successful films (both better than their source material).  He’s also written two of the best books at Marvel I’ve ever read: 1985 and Wolverine: Old Man Logan, both of which I could not recommend more highly.  I cannot blithely dismiss him as a whole, which I would really like to do because I think he’s overly crass and obsessed with the lowest common forms of cheap laughs.  Then he’ll write something like 1985, and I have to take him seriously again knowing he’ll just piss me off later.  Kingsman: The Secret Service (based on Millar’s comic The Secret Service) is a perfect example of Millar’s bipolar appeal. Continue reading Movie Review: Kingsman-The Secret Service (2015) *Manners. Maketh. Man.*