Review of Hamlet (2000) by Ididthisforscho — 27 Oct 2020

A Modern Take on an Old Tale.

The movie Hamlet (2000), directed by Michael Almereyda, is a modern-day take on Hamlet. It stars Ethan Hawk as Hamlet and Kyle MachLachlan as Cladius. The entire movie was filmed in New York City. The clothing is much more resemblant of what people wear nowadays than what people wore in Shakespeare's time. There are numerous settings from a rooftop to a theatre that keeps the movie interesting at all times.

In New York City; “Denmark” is now a corporation, situated in the Hotel Elsinore. All the characters we’re portrayed fairly accurately with the exception of Fortinbras not being as present as he should’ve been. As for the actors, I believe that Ethan Hawk did an interesting job of portraying what a modern hay Hamlet would look like. I mean this in the sense that he was a sulking, slacker, always frustrated type individual like your average teenager nowadays. Ophelia was also played decently however it was odd to hear how, in New York, 2000, Polonius tells his daughter Ophelia about how Hamlet is too princely for her, while Laertes goes on to talk about her 'chaste treasure'? This felt very out of place considering the time this is. Not to mention several scenes were left out such as the graveyard speech, the insight into Ophelia's fate, etc. Nonetheless, issues like these were bound to come up when you try to do a modern adaptation of such an old play.

The lighting and scenery seemed fine, nothing much to boast about, but they did a decent job, to say the least. The camera work got particularly interesting around when Hamlet saw his Uncle praying and was considering whether or not to kill him. Outside of that particular scene, I don’t recall anything being that intriguing as well. Special effects were alright as outside of gunshot noises there really wasn’t anything else. Speaking of gunshot wounds, bullets are not really a substitute for poison, but I suppose they had to make do somehow. The movie felt rather lacklustre when it came to these aspects.

All in all, this is a decent attempt at a modern portrayal of Hamlet. It does fall short in certain aspects such as the actual production value and the lack of numerous scenes that were in the original Hamlet. If you have nothing better to do in your free time and you are a big fan of Shakespeare, feel free to take a look at this. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone, however, it does provide something that other adaptions don’t. That is a modern-day take on Hamlet. With all that being said, I’d give this movie a 6/10.