Written by Luke Barnes
Summary
A retelling of Macbeth with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand in the leading roles, no more is needed.
I am sure the art house attendees will love this film; I however was decidedly less impressed. I think the performances from Washington and McDormand are good, not Oscar worthy but good, and the style of the film is cool to look at, but really other than that I struggle to see what is so impressive about this film.
It does little different to any other Macbeth adaption you have seen and though it tries to differentiate itself with its style it is only partially successful. Furthermore, the language choice of old Shakespearian English will be a barrier to entry for some, just as it was with the Fassbender adaption that tried a similar thing only a few years prior; and is probably the better of the two.
Perhaps I am a philistine but through most of this film I was bored. I had seen it all before and though Washington and McDormand are good they are not good enough to get me to invest in something I have already seen before. Moreover, despite clocking in at less than two hours this feels much, much longer and will test the patience of most moviegoers.
Overall, don’t believe the hype.
Pros.
Washington and McDormand
The style
The story is a literary classic
Cons.
There is little new here
The style doesn’t add enough
It is badly paced
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Another Millennial Reviewer 