Taron Egerton stars in a scene from the movie "Robin Hood." The Catholic News Service classification is O -- morally offensive. (CNS/Lionsgate)

By Catholic News Service

Vicious anti-Catholicism permeates this otherwise merely dopey take on the classic legend. Taron Egerton as the titular outlaw teams with a Muslim warrior (Jamie Foxx) he met while fighting the film’s chronologically unmoored version of the Third Crusade to thwart the evil schemes of the Sheriff of Nottingham (Ben Mendelsohn) and his more powerful patron, an unnamed cardinal (F. Murray Abraham). Eve Hewson as a feisty Marian provides both the traditional love interest and, eventually, some battlefield backup while Friar Tuck (Tim Minchin) offers meager comic relief.

The image of the church that emerges in director Otto Bathurst’s would-be hip updating of his ancient source material is not merely unflattering but grotesque and morally obscene.

Anti-Catholic animus, much harsh, sometimes gory violence, including torture, nongraphic sensuality, at least one use of profanity, a milder oath, occasional crude and crass language. The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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