Robin Hood: these characters and this tale are so recognizable that one can set the clock by the release of a new version, major or minor. Since this version could not stand out on the novelty of the story, director Otto Bathurst elected to shock and awe with aesthetics. The misguided choices include the tirelessly and tiresomely dynamic camera of director of photography George Steel and the rapid fire editing of Chris Barwell and Joe Hutshing; those two, combined, turn out to subtract from whatever sliver of story there is, as they make even the most single line of dialogue confusing (not to mention what it does to the action sequences, which were not at all inspired to begin with). In addition to that, the costume design of Julian Day is a hodge-podge of inspirations, from poor-man steampunk to faux-modernistic military garments passing through contemporary vagabond and period-appropriate suits of armor. All it does is create a constant sense of what-the-hell-is-this. The cast doesn’t help: Taron Egerton has less charisma than some of the horses that appear briefly in the film; Ben Mendelsohn is in his usual full spewing mode; Eve Hewson is luminous, but (surprise, surprise!) dealing with an underwritten character.