“the play's the thing, with which i'll catch the conscience of the king.”
i'll start this review by admitting one simple truth: i have not read Hamlet before, or seen any other film/play adaptation of it, aside from Hamnet which i don't really count despite it being quite good. this is my initial impression on the story, but i did go into it knowing that people had mixed opinions on it.
this is one of those films that i feel mostly neutral about. i admire the vision and liked some scenes (specifically the Blockbuster scene) but otherwise it didn't impress me a great amount. obviously i'll enjoy anything featuring Ethan Hawke and Julia Stiles, but i just felt kinda meh about it. it also doesn't help that i watched it on a night shift and got tired towards the end; i was still listening to it, but the climax didn't really hit as well as it could've.
i said this on my review for Romeo + Juliet, but i really think that they'd do wonders if they did a modernized movie adaptation of Macbeth. i think that must be what they were trying to get at here, but it just didn't hit the same despite the great cast. but i think that we can afford to try again, right?
i was a massive fan of Hamlet's hat in this, though. like that's totally my vibe. and i loved the hairstyles they did for Ophelia; it makes me want to be more experimental with my hair, but mine is so much thinner than Julia's so it wouldn't be the same.
i'll have to read the play sometime. i figure i'd like it at least a moderate amount, considering i enjoyed most of the other Shakespeare stuff i've read. i don't know why i haven't, honestly. but yeah, that's all i have to say about this. i wish i liked it more because it had a lot of potential, but it wasn't bad by any means.
“the play's the thing, with which i'll catch the conscience of the king.”
i'll start this review by admitting one simple truth: i have not read Hamlet before, or seen any other film/play adaptation of it, aside from Hamnet which i don't really count despite it being quite good. this is my initial impression on the story, but i did go into it knowing that people had mixed opinions on it.
this is one of those films that i feel mostly neutral about. i admire the vision and liked some scenes (specifically the Blockbuster scene) but otherwise it didn't impress me a great amount. obviously i'll enjoy anything featuring Ethan Hawke and Julia Stiles, but i just felt kinda meh about it. it also doesn't help that i watched it on a night shift and got tired towards the end; i was still listening to it, but the climax didn't really hit as well as it could've.
i said this on my review for Romeo + Juliet, but i really think that they'd do wonders if they did a modernized movie adaptation of Macbeth. i think that must be what they were trying to get at here, but it just didn't hit the same despite the great cast. but i think that we can afford to try again, right?
i was a massive fan of Hamlet's hat in this, though. like that's totally my vibe. and i loved the hairstyles they did for Ophelia; it makes me want to be more experimental with my hair, but mine is so much thinner than Julia's so it wouldn't be the same.
i'll have to read the play sometime. i figure i'd like it at least a moderate amount, considering i enjoyed most of the other Shakespeare stuff i've read. i don't know why i haven't, honestly. but yeah, that's all i have to say about this. i wish i liked it more because it had a lot of potential, but it wasn't bad by any means.
