Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Blistering performances.

It's interesting to look at all the adaptions of Shakespeare's classic plays. This is regarded as one of the lesser versions and it's easy to see why. This film comes across as awkward because it has this weird way of changing its tone. About halfway through, it started to show everything in light whereas most of the film was literally covered in darkness. It doesn't seem appropriate for a Shakespeare adaptation. I admit to not being that familiar with "Macbeth" at least not as much as "Romeo And Juliet". I thought the leading actor was the same guy who played Daryl from "The Walking Dead"! Then again, it's probably just because I recently saw and reviewed that too.Now, it is interesting to see the story being retold in a modern setting. At the same time, it's still hard to capture the spirit. I especially don't like the very end where it just becomes a clichéd gun fight. It was pretty hard to follow at times and for the most part, it didn't really give anything new to the story. There have been a lot better and some worse adaptations here. I guess the colors just come off as gaudy and annoying. **

If you're familiar with this Shakespearian tragedy, just blend it into a crime movie, while keeping the dialogue in tact, as if spouted out of fellow stage thespians. But remember here, this is film. An interesting and experimental idea, unfortunately while being immensely entertaining, fails ultimately on one level, cause the thespian uttered dialogue doesn't work or gel. If done like 1990's Men of Respect, who knows how this would of turned out. Probably not much better I reckon'. But still, this is a bloody good show helped by some colorful performances from some actors, you'll underestimate. I'm chiefly speaking about Mick Molloy who does his best work, as a merciless hit-man, killing a mother and child with barbwire. The photography is fantastic, from it's hand-held opening. Macbeth boasts style and is something different, from a director who makes very few movies. Wright's 4th pic is almost up with Romper Stomper, although I have yet to see Cherry Falls.

Geoffrey Wright's modern rendition of Shakespeare's Macbeth does little credit to the Jacobean genius. From start to finish the film distracts from the plot line, the language is confusing, and the screenplay is pointlessly violent. Sam Worthington plays the drug lord of Melbourne Macbeth and Victoria Hill plays his, perse, open minded wife, but it does seem that Miss Hill has an obsession with her anatomy that diverts our attention from the poor acting. Duncan (pre-death) is the drug lord slaughtered by Macbeth, sparking the non-stop bloodbath reminiscent of the SAW franchise. Macbeth then begins an unnecessarily brutal killing spree claiming friends, women and children alike. The film culminates to feeble shootout between Macduff's (Lachy Halme) henchmen and Macbeth's cronies. All thanks to Macbeth's psychotic need to kill women and children of course. Note the disturbingly perverse pleasure that the assassins take in their deaths. One appears to climax as he kills Mrs Macduff. Nice.The film, amazingly, is a total disaster, Shakespeares tragedy concerns love and ambition, and the characters are strangely moving. This rendition is moving-to the bathroom. Wright sees fit to play upon tiresome clichés such as; amorous school-girl-witches, who seduce men twice their age on foggy dance floors; angry gun toting Australians;and blood splattering at the screen at every second turn. If only it were in 3-D.Macbeth is instead shown with a 'Jack Sparrow' attitude-a swagger, and an affiliation for "rum and salty WITCHES" (At World's End). Only Macbeth isn't funny and yes, he solves problems by shooting them, he does so with none of the grace or finesse of our Captain. All Macbeth does that IS canon to an ambitious, violent, superstitious tyrant-king is that he IS violent. He makes up for the lack of the other attributes with that. Which isn't helped by the confusing and pointless Jacobean dialogue. Had Miss Hill decided against using "Ye Olde English" the film may have been a minor success, meriting perhaps and extra star or two.Alas, it was not to be, Hill clearly of the opinion that gun-toting, drugged up Aussies are of a cultured sort.Take the penultimate and final scenes for example, where that unconvincing showdown concerning Macbeth and Macduff begins. Note how its the only scene where the killings are sort of justified. Well the last of Macduff's is anyway. This would be fine, however the Miss Hill's final scene demanded once again she get her kit off-only this time shes dead in a bath of her own blood. One last pathetically (albeit not unexpected) pointless display of both Wright's and Hill's perversion to sexual violence. Even Cap'n Jack would be bored of her by now.In short, if sex, brutality, drugs and promiscuous teenage witches is your bag-go see it. If not-don't. Just don't bring the wife and kids!

Geoffrey Wright, who did Romper Stomper and brought Russell Crowe to the attention of the world, brings Shakespeare's Scottish play up to date by setting it in the under world of Melbourne (or is it Sydney?). the speeches are there and so is the flashy trash of Silk Stalkings or one of the other cable (before cable was cool) series that surfaced in the wake of Miami Vice. Its an odd mix of guns and iambic pentameter, which works as well as that description. Not "bad" as such, the mix just doesn't work and the result is more grating then ingratiating. Part of the problem is the need to fit the plot into a new surroundings while retaining the language. the result is some odd sequences with no dialog and music that are suppose to get things across the dialog really can't because it doesn't pertain to now. The longish opening sequence before Macbeth meets the witches (Goth School girls in Catholic School Girl Uniforms) sets up the scenario which is changed from battling lords to battling crime families. This leads into the awkward meeting in an empty disco where Macbeth is holding a hostage. Turning on the lights and fog machine- for no real reason, Macbeth finds the girls coming out of the fog. My interest began to wane almost immediately and the scene where Macbeth's friend tells the drug lord of Macbeth's heroics kind of sealed the deal and I stopped watching and instead began to listen rather than watch(or were the scenes reversed, I don't know I don't care). despite its awards down under the film just doesn't really work especially when the idea isn't a new one with earlier films like Joe Macbeth and Men of Respect floating around. If you must see it it wait for cable.