Yes, the visuals are grand. Yes, there are some good performances. Unfortunately, Branagh's is not one of them.
Kenneth Branagh is just too over-the-top and indulgent as Hamlet. Maybe it is a matter of taste, but it is vitally important that you like the man who plays Hamlet as the character speaks more than the rest of the cast put together.
Another problem is the script; it was written as a play, it was turned into a movie. A really long movie. I have nothing against long movies, but this one really was long on the dialogue. It didn't have to be this way. I think this play has to be cut a lot to make a tolerable movie. (I would see the Zefferelii one. Really conveys the spirit of the original without making it a marathon movie.)
All in all, it was not terrible but I will not sit through it again.
Kenneth Branagh is just too over-the-top and indulgent as Hamlet. Maybe it is a matter of taste, but it is vitally important that you like the man who plays Hamlet as the character speaks more than the rest of the cast put together.
Another problem is the script; it was written as a play, it was turned into a movie. A really long movie. I have nothing against long movies, but this one really was long on the dialogue. It didn't have to be this way. I think this play has to be cut a lot to make a tolerable movie. (I would see the Zefferelii one. Really conveys the spirit of the original without making it a marathon movie.)
All in all, it was not terrible but I will not sit through it again.
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