J-1984

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays and as such is ripe for a modern retelling. Hopefully, though, someone will do a better job than this. The concept is initially interesting- Hamlet is a film student and 'Denmark' is now a corporation. Unfortunately this concept soon wears thin, mostly because of the poor performances- surprising given the calibre of actors' involved. Hawke is an adequate Hamlet, though he is one of the poorest I have seen. However Hawke escapes with his reputation intact, which is more than can be said for some of his co-stars: Kyle MacLachlan seems to be fairly average in everything he makes that without David Lynch, but again he is not the worst offender. That 'honour' falls to Julia Stiles who on paper seems well-cast. However she does not seem to understand any of her lines and as such the delivery of said lines is awful. Bill Murray is not much better. I have always found Polonius to be a funny character but as good an actor Murray is, he is not suited to Shakespeare. Luckily, both are saved by Liev Schrieber who managed to 'drag' Stiles through their scenes together. I was never that big a fan of Schrieber before I saw this film, but he was by far the best thing about it. He knew what he was saying and how to say it. Overall, I give this film 5/10. If you want to see Hamlet, there is far better out there.

I never read the book, and after watching the film I don't want to. That isn't to say that the film is all bad, because it's not- there are some brilliant performances from Ian McKellen and Paul Bettany. Unfortunately the film is let down by the fact that Tom Hanks is unforgivably miscast (remember I haven't read the book) but it is clear that the role isn't right for him. Some of my friends have said that Sophie (Audrey Tatou) is nothing like she is portrayed in the book, but I think she played, what is essentially a very silly part, well. Hanks though is no Harrison Ford/Indiana Jones, whom I believe Robert Langdon to be based on and that combined with some dull direction makes the film suffer. On the plus side, every moment that Ian McKellen is on screen is a joy. Now to the religious aspect of the film. Why anybody got upset is a mystery to me. The final 'twist' in the film was obvious from the moment the film began and the whole 'Da Vinci Code' is ridiculous. This film wants to be 'Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade' but isn't. I have heard that 'Angels and Demons' (the superior predecessor to 'Da Vinci') is to be made. Let's just hope that Howard/Hanks do a better job with that film than they have done with this. 5/10.