Should you have found yourself feeling short-changed by Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood (2010), the recent BBC series, his cameo in Shrek or any other adaptation of the popular myth in recent memory, you can console yourself with the news that The Wachowskis (The Matrix) will be rebooting updating the character for their new movie – the copyright abating Hood.
According to THR, the duo will direct from their own script, the contents of which are characteristically shrouded in secrecy. This new, urban incarnation of the heroic outlaw will presumably bow to the director’s comic-book sensibilities, gifting Robin Hood with impressive wire-work skills and a visually stunning affinity for slow-motion.
Not that I have even the smallest problem with that. Like everyone else I adored The Matrix and, unlike everyone else, I had all of the time in the world for 2008’s underrated Speed Racer. Both films bowed to their respective audiences, even the critically derided Matrix sequels proving difficult to fault on visual grounds. Robin Hood is a enduring character and, in a world that includes multiple Tomb Raider movies, more than worthy of his own franchise.
Currently putting the finished touches to Iraqi war movie CN-9, a found-footage film which pieces together a plot to assassinate George W. Bush using the perspectives of two archaeologists, the Wachowskis will once again team with Warner Bros. for Hood. Having apparently targeted Will Smith while reaching out to actors, Hood is beginning to look very interesting indeed.
Needless to say, I am looking forward to the bullet-time archery sequences with bated breath.
