Shakespeare without poetry

Veronica Hill, who plays a rather shrill but sexy Lady Macbeth, is also responsible for the screenplay. And there lies the trouble. She has pared it down to a minimum, and in so doing loses much of the power of the original. What she leaves us with is a melodramatic recital of blood-letting horrors instead of a psychological interpretation of betrayal and guilt.

You can do anything you like with Shakespeare without defeating him entirely, but it's the flesh of language rather than the bones of plot which made him great.

On the credit side, Wright offers a well shot and often imposingly directed assault on our senses with some good ideas attached, notably the nymphet witches with whom Macbeth conducts a four-in-a-bed orgy. But the arrival at Birnam Woods at the end is a disappointment and the persistent violence becomes counter-productive.

Sam Worthington is a lightweight but by no means improbable Macbeth; the rest of the cast includes Gary Sweet as Duncan, Steve Bastoni as Banquo and Lachy Hume as Macduff. There are good performances, smart direction and dark-hued photography that's impressive. But it would be surprising if this Macbeth were to bring people back to Shakespeare proper, as it intends.

Macbeth
Cert: 15