Unfortunately, this promising start doesn't make up for the film's many problems. But the answer is not to make the words unimportant. The story of Hamlet is not original to Shakespeare. If you are going to overlook the language, you might as well tell another revenge story. Shakespeare's language can be hard to follow because it has a different rhythm and imagery, and is more complex, than what modern movie audiences are used to.
Good delivery is the key to understanding, and it can be done.
Hamlet , by contrast, is often unintelligible. And the worst offender, unfortunately, is Ethan Hawke. He doesn't sound as if he comprehends much of his own speeches, and I didn't have an easy time either, especially since he mumbles his way through almost all of his lines, as if that were the only way he can signify that he's bummed out. The film also suffers from too much of a good thing. As I said, I like the premise, but at times the movie seems to be an excuse to show off how the filmmakers have updated the text.