Review of Titus (1999) by Ethan P — 29 Mar 2016

Titus has a spectacular vision and some hints of brilliance, but the director took too much artistic license with the play. It has a grand and extravagant scope, filled with colors and elaborate costumes and awesome music, but it's also too theatrical and weird. It has some ferocious moments and bloody violence that keep it grounded in its gripping story, but mostly the film is a lot of frilly hysterics and jarring visual effects. The dopey emperor and the two sons are ridiculous, some of the timeless props are disorienting (cars, motorcycles, guns) and most of the visual metaphors are really odd. It sort of feels like a Shakespeare play blended with a Tim Burton, Edward Scissorhands kind of movie. I thought some of the casting was pretty bad and they should've kept the story in Ancient Rome.

That isn't to say that it doesn't have its moments. Anthony Hopkin's performance is reliably compelling and Tamora's fiery aside at the beginning is awesome. Aaron is actually my favorite character in the film, though. He's cold, terrifying and he fully accepts his villainy. His line where he tells Lucius that his only regret was not doing a thousand more awful acts was awesome. I also really liked some of the aesthetic elements because the costumes had a lot of luxurious style and the settings were richly drawn, even though I disagreed with the choice to include multiple time periods. The film has a lot of energy and style, but it's too artsy and not grounded enough in its very gritty story.