Mmm....Polanski has ruined me for any other adaptation

Rating: 4/10 (14 March 2016)

Well, I'm off to the RSC in Stratford upon Avon to see "Hamlet" this week, so I have been getting myself in the mood for the Bard by watching adaptations of his plays. My friend put this on and was raving about how good it is, but I'm afraid I found it underwhelming. Visually very monochromatic, costumes too "samey" and did not really like the nod to "Braveheart" with the facepaint. Too many slow motion scenes. HUGE sections of dialogue missed out and what was there was often mumbled, difficult to follow. I have no problem with the Scottish accent but this was hard work. Found it disappointing, the witches didn't do it for me, neither did Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. And the "Burnam" wood bit was not what I expected at all, my friend liked it because the ASHES come to Dunsinane, and I suppose that is a new twist, but it wasn't for me. Ah well, I wanted to like it, will try to sit through it a second time, but not convinced, I found it dull. I think that Roman Polanski's 1971 version has ruined me for any other adaptation of this play, I love that version and put it on straight after sitting through the 2015 one.