Back in 1997 shows like Hercules and Xena were sinking their hooks into a market many people were surprised to discover existed. Riding the wave of popularity was The New Adventures of Robin Hood, a show that held nothing back in terms of cheesy plots and low-budget action. Rather than making every effort to overcome the fact that fantasy situations and settings can eat up a lot of your budget, this Robin Hood embraced its lack of ability to throw money at everything (or anything).
Like a cute and scrappy grade school play, the show unapologetically does the best it can and has good time. Treating the legend of Robin Hood as pure fantasy, with dragons, witches, and little interest in things that could make sense historically, this is a show looking for a crazy bit of fun, and it doesn't really care if you can see the strings.
The genre balances borderline silly fight/action scenes with a special mix of serious and goofy characters, and The New Adventures of Robin Hood work this "magic" as well as any.
For those with no experience at all, it might be a good idea to jump into the series about halfway into the 13-episode first season, because some of the earliest episodes almost fall all the way to self-spoof. Some may argue that the show never gets past this, but I think it pulls itself together a bit after things get rolling. Of course, it's still a campy bit of crazy, but it delivers the action with more thought, and runs the characters through somewhat less standard plotlines.
Matthew Porretta, for all that he actually manages a decent enough effort, is perhaps the strangest Robin Hood ever to make it on a screen, and while Anna Galvin's Marion is wonderful to look at, there is something very un-Marion about the saucy warrior this show gives us.
In the end, there are few shows you'd throw into this genre which demand more from the audience in terms of just playing along with the silliness, and that's rather saying something. From sometimes laughably overdone segments of bad guys roaring, and the fight scenes that go along with such Power Rangers-esque productions, to the occasional set piece that brings to mind Spinal Tap ("My Stonehenge was in serious danger of being trampled by a dwarf."), we are here testing the limits of a thing being so low-budget that becomes unwatchable.
On the other hand, the popularity of the genre, including newer shows like Merlin and Legend of the Seeker, can't be denied, and even this one had a fair run. 50 episodes isn't bad at all (though the show switched Robins and Marions), and it had at least enough interest behind it to wrangle a six-episode appearance by Christopher Lee.
For those at all interested in the genre, this is one to check out if the initial run missed you, and the show does have the added benefit of being more appropriate for a younger crowd than something like Legend of the Seeker, which is often too creepy or sexy for all audiences. It's utterly outlandish, and definitely hard to take seriously at times, but it's a fair bit of fun.
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About Marc Eastman
Marc Eastman is the owner and operator of Are You Screening? and has been writing film reviews for over a decade, and several branches of the internet's film review world have seen his name. His reviews have brought him personal praise from the director of a major motion picture, and have been used as required reading in a course at a major University. These priceless rewards, along with just bags of cash, keep him from straying from freelance writing. He is also a member of The Broadcast Film Critics Association and The Broadcast Television Journalists Association.
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