Branagh's Hamlet (Movie Review)

What do you get when you cross Shakespeare’s four-plus hour play and the big screen? A whole lot of mediocrity gushes forth– a version of Hamlet, which, for the viewer’s sake, adds in some action (though poorly placed and overly exaggerated). Think of Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet as a dry, wry, overly cooked cheeseburger which, in order to compensate for the poor cooking, becomes drowned in condiments (ketchup – blood - being the main ingredient here).
I do not entirely blame Branagh for the nature of the film, no: after all, he had to keep the cheeseburger on the grill for an entire four hours, a timeframe which, even with the most bloody of burgers, tends to drain the meat dry. Add in that the customer has to wait through four hours of the grilling (which, within the film, consists of literally hours of dialogue) only to be greeted by an explosion of ketchup soaked bread, and one can see why the average customer leaves the restaurant disappointed. The film becomes entrenched in either the well-done burger or the ketchup, never feeling “just right.”

At some points, the movie is exciting. This excitement, though, continues to a fault, the movie becoming a melodramatic expression of Branagh’s spin on the play. He clarifies things which are not so clear in the story – such as the nature of Hamlet’s and Ophelia’s relationship and the utter violence present in the final scenes (rendering Hamlet more ridiculous and mad than could be imagined in text).

Where there lurks not excitement there exists utter dullness, the viewer having to deal with Hamlet’s indecisiveness first hand, forced to sit through a film which anticlimactically ends in a crazed Hamlet murdering just about every important figure connected to him (aside from good old Horatio). The customer can only help but laugh after waiting such a long time for the burger – this is what I waited for?

I sought out Branagh’s Hamlet looking for the classic burger, something just right and renowned for its greatness. What I found was the remains of what could have been great, doused with tons of overcooked ketchup bread. Next time, I will be headed to a different restaurant.

1.5 Stars