MacBeth mumbles and stares off into middle distance for nearly 2 hours.

Rating: 1/10 (8 May 2016)

When Shakespeare wrote his plays, he was writing for crowds of restless commoners who craved entertainment. He wrote captivating, expressive poetry for colorful characters to speak in telling magnificent and moving stories. Unfortunately, Hollywood directors have entered a new era of movie making where excessive lip movement or speaking above a mumble is out of style. Anyone who has seen the Mockingjay Trilogy will know what I mean. The words being mumbled seem to be incidental to the opportunity to film long lingering stares, someone standing in a field being wistful, a shot of horses grazing, curtains blowing in the wind, someone standing on a hillside being wistful. Meanwhile, time is passing, the audience is waiting for a story to be told but we are faced with more and more self indulgent cinematography. Everything that happens in this movie happens very, very slowly. Shakespeare didn't need clever cameramen, nor did he see any theatrical value in ten minutes of silent pondering.
To make the experience even less pleasant, the sound track is someone playing a cello with only one string. When I say "playing" I mean whining like a petulant child, an unending drone that expresses nothing. The sound track is awful. As for the witches, an integral element in the story of MacBeth, they were about as interesting as suburban Wiccans at a baby shower. Once again, mumbled words through barely moving lips on expressionless faces made them seem more bored than chilling as they should be. If you want to see MacBeth, try one of the versions that came before this silly attempt to be clever.