Macbeth (2015)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Perfect cast and a good story

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This version of one of the greatest plays in the English language is worth seeing for the visuals alone. We're placed right into a medieval Scottish countryside with its strikingly beautiful landscapes, lochs, and mountains. That austere and foreboding setting underlies just about every scene. The three Weird Sisters (who look superficially like peasant women but convey a genuinely creepy otherness) stand in fog-shrouded fields as they utter their cryptic warnings and prophecies to Macbeth and lurk in the background off to the side of the battles. Hardscrabble peasants and soldiers dot the landscape, sometimes strangely motionless, sometimes lining the roads, but always enhancing an air of strangeness. Life is brutal, violent death is never far away, and the supernatural world is always just offstage.I won't worry about giving away spoilers here because this is one of Shakespeare's best-known plays, but if you haven't seen it before, then this is maybe not the best place to start. Two reasons: first, a lot of the text has been cut (even though the complete play is not that long) and it will help a lot if you already know the plot and characters. Otherwise, you might be lost not knowing who's doing what and to whom. I got the feeling that the director Justin Kurzel essentially assumes that his viewers will already know the play and are deliberately looking for a different, postmodern take on it. Second, most of the dialog is (appropriately enough) in thick Scottish accents but often almost whispered, as if the characters are speaking only to themselves or someone right beside them. In places it's hard to pick up. But this too adds to the atmosphere, as if the actors are standing outside themselves both watching and taking part.Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard make a first-rate pair of leads. David Thewlis (Duncan) and Elizabeth Debicki (Lady Macduff) are also notable, as are the three witches. The various captains and soldiers with speaking parts are hard to tell from each other, but that's another reason to know the play before going in. One added touch I thought was interesting came very early on where we see the Macbeths burying an infant daughter (who's only referred to obliquely in the play) and then losing a teenage son in battle. If they don't have their own children to live for, it maybe makes it easier to understand why they would go ahead and do what they do. Another effective touch, an interesting director's interpretation, is that Lady Macbeth slides over into madness specifically because of her husband's brutal murder of Macduff's family -- she was willing to push him into assassination as a career move but didn't bargain for what it led to, which was outright destruction even of women and children and a reign of blood. "What's done cannot be undone."See the full play in a live theater, somewhere, and then see this movie for its distinctive ambience. It's an added-value experience.

Macbeth is a good movie with a reasonably well developed plot and a top notch cast. The highlight is without a doubt Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard in their respective roles, the braveness and naivety conveyed by Fassbender from beginning to end is outstanding and we can see that he put a lot of work and thought in to this character. As for Cotillard, the rage and ambitiousness brought out from her is unique, spellbinding and an absolute spectacle to endure. However, I did find the plot failed to engage me and truly pull me in, it felt as if they were taking so much time trying to stay faithful to Shakespeare that they forget to make this story feel relevant and gratifying for an audience who might not be familiar with this material. It should have been made for a more universal audience. As well as that, a lot of the enotion felt forced, not by the actors, but from the direction, score, cinematography and so on. It felt like they were trying too hard to enforce this on us, rather than merely letting us merely get engrossed in to the drama from the performances, I understand that it is based on a play, but I thought it all could have been done with a little more subtlety. Not breathtaking, but very enjoyable. Great performances throughout, Macbeth is flawed, but I would recommend any fan of Shakespeare or these performers check it out, it is certainly worth your time.A man will stop at nothing to become king, while his wife enforces evil upon him. Best Performance: Marion Cotillard

"Macbeth" is a modern adaption of the classic play by William Shakespeare. It takes over the well known story and enriches it with modern ways of production and technical possibilities.It is remarkable, what beautiful pictures this adaption delivers. It creates a very fitting mood that make the play believable and give it a rather dark and sinister tone. It sticks to the classical language, which, at times, can make it quite hard to follow the plot because it creates a rather bumpy flow but still it is surprising how well the theme of Macbeth still works centuries after its imagination. Additionally, the production manages to stay credible and avoid to make the film look like any cheap play you might have seen before.All in all I liked this movie pretty much even though at some times I would have wished for a more easy access concerning the big material it deals with. Still, the pictures alone are worth giving this one a try. If you can watch it on a big screen, I could imagine that it works out even better.

"Star hide my fire, Let no light to see my back and deep desires." My favor quote from Macbeth.I would say I am very disappoint to this movie, prefer the old version better. Turn it off after 20 minutes. Too many slow motion, whisper and mumbling, made it so difficult to normal people to understand. Macbeth's original form is a stage show, but movie is a reversion, an art transform. The lines are still writing so outdated? So why don't I just read a book instead to watch a movie? By the way, nice photographing MTV movie. But I am not a fan to slow motion.