Taking a play out of the theatre is always problematic, I find, because the filmmakers have to find ways to make the piece more cinematic. This was not a bad job really although I'm not all that familiar with the source material. Decent performances all round, but those that stood out (for me) were; Helen Mirren as Prospera, Djimon Hounsou as Caliban, Alfred Molina as Stephano and Tom Conti as Gonzalo.
I always find Shakespearean dialogue a little hard to follow, but I found this one was a bit of an exception. The storyline, although a little complex, was quite easy to follow and I quite enjoyed it. Very stylish costumes and an interesting soundtrack were elements that added to the piece pretty well. Over all though, despite being well shot, all on location, I guess I felt there was something lacking. I guess it's worth a look if you're a fan of the Bard, but otherwise, I may urge you to maybe give it a miss
My score: 5.8/10
IMDb Score: 5.3/10 (based on 2,756 votes at the time of going to press).
MetaScore: 43/100: (Based on 28 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes 'Tomatometer' Score: 29/100 (based on 82 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes 'Audience' Score: 28/100 (based on 17,602 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.
I always find Shakespearean dialogue a little hard to follow, but I found this one was a bit of an exception. The storyline, although a little complex, was quite easy to follow and I quite enjoyed it. Very stylish costumes and an interesting soundtrack were elements that added to the piece pretty well. Over all though, despite being well shot, all on location, I guess I felt there was something lacking. I guess it's worth a look if you're a fan of the Bard, but otherwise, I may urge you to maybe give it a miss
My score: 5.8/10
IMDb Score: 5.3/10 (based on 2,756 votes at the time of going to press).
MetaScore: 43/100: (Based on 28 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes 'Tomatometer' Score: 29/100 (based on 82 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes 'Audience' Score: 28/100 (based on 17,602 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.