Being made to study the Scottish play in School, I had always hoped one day it would come in handy, and on this occasion finally it did. I didn't think i'd be going to the Cinema to see Macbeth, but what a pleasant and rewarding surprise.

The story and plot are well known, so it falls on the two leads Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard to bring the goods, both do they!! Fantastic performances from both, he is outstanding, strong, powerful, charismatic, when he is on the screen, you watch! Cotillard too, she was just so good, she made Lady M very believable, so manipulative.

Great performances from the supporting cast too, Sean Harris in particular, that guy has got something.

The locations were superb, beautiful and hugely dramatic, so fitting to the big production.

The music was excellent, I loved it, I'm not sure if it was the Cinema's issue, but on a few occasions the dialogue seemed muffled, and was difficult to make out.

Excellent, 9/10

Was actually really looking forward to seeing this 2015 film version of 'Macbeth'. The play is one of Shakespeare's best, most famous and most quotable and has leant itself to film, with Roman Polanski, Orson Welles and Akira Kurosawa all giving it splendid treatment. The cast is a talented one, having often admired Michael Fassbender, Marion Cottilard and David Thewlis and ever since seeing him in 'The Borgias' Sean Harris struck me as one to watch.

Not to mention the great reviews. Was a little worried though too, seeing that it was directed by Justin Kurzel who directed the big misfire and huge waste of potential that was 'Assassins Creed'. Luckily, this 'Macbeth' lived up to expectations on the whole if not exceeding them. It is not the definitive version of the play, either on film or filmed production, and did have room for improvement, but for all its flaws the film on the whole surprisingly impressed me.

This 'Macbeth' isn't perfect. It is agreed not always easy to understand the dialogue, which didn't need to be as hushed or as muttered. While the film a vast majority of the time looked absolutely great, there is a gratuitous overuse of slow-motion.

Especially in the first 10 minutes or so, which were more sluggish than arresting. There are cuts and some of the omissions do affect the drama where the storytelling becomes less coherent.

For all those drawbacks, there are a lot of positives with this 'Macbeth'. Other than the slow motion, it is quite an amazing looking film, with hugely atmospheric and grandiose visuals (from the suitably myterious fog early on right up to the boldly bloodthirsty climax). The photography to me was some of the best of that year, especially in the act and those locations are hugely effective in their atmosphere, uncompromising but also oddly beautiful and dark without taking it to extremes. The music is still haunting and Kurzel's direction is bolder and less muddled than it was in 'Assassins Creed' from the following year.

Moreover, although it would have been nice if it was more consistently intelligible, Shakespeare's text is still powerful and hard to forget. The story takes time to get going but does get more compelling and remarkably ambitious, at its most emotionally investable from the point where Macduff learning of his family's murder (which has always been a very moving part of the plot) up to the end. The action is both exciting and ferociously harrowing, pulling no punches without being too unnecessarily over the top (seeing as 'Macbeth' is already a dramatically brutal play).

Some interesting changes here. Really did like that the witches weren't portrayed in a way that was too reliant on witch cliches, and were spooky underneath their deceptive exteriors. Lady Macbeth is still an effective and steely manipulator but it was interesting to see a more conflicted side to her (very different as it is not what the play indicates) rather than her being completely villainous. This is not going to work for some, but to me it was interesting. The performances were on the whole great from all, Fassbender is searingly fierce in the title role without being too brutish and Cotillard contrasts with him effectively as a steely and imperious Lady Macbeth. Paddy Considine's Banquo is suitably noble and Harris proved in 'The Borgias' that he could do creepy but also tortured, and he is very moving here as Macduff. It is somewhat sad that Duncan's role in the play is not bigger because Thewlis, while perhaps a touch young, commands the part extremely well.

In conclusion, intriguing and well done but there are better versions of 'Macbeth' around. 7/10

MACBETH is one of my very favourite Shakespeare plays. It has all of the gruesome violence and tragic outcomes that one expects from a Shakespeare tragedy, and there are not one but two outstanding movie adaptations of the play that have gone down in history as classics (Kurosawa's THRONE OF BLOOD and Polanski's MACBETH). The good thing about Shakespeare is that he always lends himself well to new adaptations of his work, so I was intrigued by this new, low key effort.

I shouldn't have bothered. As directed by SNOWTOWN's Justin Kurzel, MACBETH is a miserable viewing experience and one of the worst Shakespeare adaptations I've had the misfortune to sit through. It's an incessantly arty production in which Kurzel seems to be constantly trying to capture the perfect shot. His low key and sombre direction worked with the horrifying SNOWTOWN, but on MACBETH he feels completely out of his depth, missing the gravitas of the play and the genuine drama and horror of many of the scenes.

The opening battle sequence is one of the worst filmed I've witnessed. Kurzel has got hold of one of those irritating ultra slow-motion cameras and uses it copiously, much like those annoying BBC cameramen at Wimbledon. The battle is a disjointed, badly-edited mass of random acts of violence and participants who look like they're on the highlights reel of a rugby match. It's awful, pretentiously awful stuff, and I very nearly switched off at that point.

I stuck around to see typically strong performances from Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard negated by the decision to have them mumble their dialogue, leaving the viewer straining throughout to make out just what they're saying. The casting director has done a sterling job of assembling a fine squad of actors so it's a pity they're all wasted in this incessantly dull and unlikeable film. Kurzel's attempts to recreate mass battles of the likes of BRAVEHEART (a notable influence) on a tiny budget are also ill advised, leaving MACBETH looking like nothing more than a high school play. My advice? Stick with one of those two versions of the story I mentioned earlier in this review.