Such a frustrating disappointment

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This version of one of the greatest plays in the English language is worth seeing for the visuals alone. We're placed right into a medieval Scottish countryside with its strikingly beautiful landscapes, lochs, and mountains. That austere and foreboding setting underlies just about every scene. The three Weird Sisters (who look superficially like peasant women but convey a genuinely creepy otherness) stand in fog-shrouded fields as they utter their cryptic warnings and prophecies to Macbeth and lurk in the background off to the side of the battles. Hardscrabble peasants and soldiers dot the landscape, sometimes strangely motionless, sometimes lining the roads, but always enhancing an air of strangeness. Life is brutal, violent death is never far away, and the supernatural world is always just offstage.I won't worry about giving away spoilers here because this is one of Shakespeare's best-known plays, but if you haven't seen it before, then this is maybe not the best place to start. Two reasons: first, a lot of the text has been cut (even though the complete play is not that long) and it will help a lot if you already know the plot and characters. Otherwise, you might be lost not knowing who's doing what and to whom. I got the feeling that the director Justin Kurzel essentially assumes that his viewers will already know the play and are deliberately looking for a different, postmodern take on it. Second, most of the dialog is (appropriately enough) in thick Scottish accents but often almost whispered, as if the characters are speaking only to themselves or someone right beside them. In places it's hard to pick up. But this too adds to the atmosphere, as if the actors are standing outside themselves both watching and taking part.Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard make a first-rate pair of leads. David Thewlis (Duncan) and Elizabeth Debicki (Lady Macduff) are also notable, as are the three witches. The various captains and soldiers with speaking parts are hard to tell from each other, but that's another reason to know the play before going in. One added touch I thought was interesting came very early on where we see the Macbeths burying an infant daughter (who's only referred to obliquely in the play) and then losing a teenage son in battle. If they don't have their own children to live for, it maybe makes it easier to understand why they would go ahead and do what they do. Another effective touch, an interesting director's interpretation, is that Lady Macbeth slides over into madness specifically because of her husband's brutal murder of Macduff's family -- she was willing to push him into assassination as a career move but didn't bargain for what it led to, which was outright destruction even of women and children and a reign of blood. "What's done cannot be undone."See the full play in a live theater, somewhere, and then see this movie for its distinctive ambience. It's an added-value experience.

As many other reviews will tell you, much of this movie's dialogue is mumbling or whispering, but I think this adaption's greatest flaw is that it takes itself far too seriously. It seemed to cut any scene that took away from the gritty darkness of the script, but a good tragedy doesn't need to omit funny moments to remain tragic. Michael Fassbender makes a wonderful Macbeth, beautifully showing a refreshingly raw and vulnerable side to him after he becomes king that we rarely see depicted. It really reminds us of who he once was and how much he has changed. This, in addition to a magnificent set, perfectly selected costume design, and good acting all around, makes Macbeth overall worth the watch.(I would recommend reading the original text first, but I understand that Shakespeare is not everyone's cup of tea.)

It seems everybody forgot today what the real tragedy is. In conditions of eternal fear to consult anyone's feelings, the genre of clear tragedy vanishes completely. If only George Martin allows to himself to kill consistently several characters in his books, we can hear yellings like 'he is a slasher!' or 'he kills everybody!'. It's strange for me, as we do not mind of blood rivers and streams in Tarantino's movies. Maybe because it is funny', I guess.Let's refer to an encyclopedia: 'Tragedy - branch of drama that treats in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events of private or a public character encountered or caused by a heroic individual and usually leads to the hero's death'. Some Shakespeare's plays are tragedies and they were and will be it, as you might want it or not. If the place and time of the action moved, the meaning will be not changed. As it is important to understand the Chekhov is the great playwright of dramas, the same time it is important to realize why Shakespeare is the great tragedian.If you are not afraid to wade through the wilds of Scottish English with its archaic words, if there is no fear in your brave heart of the Shakespeare's iamb, if you love Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard in particular and British actors in general, so you have to watch this film.

It's a gimmicky film, which for my taste, has gone too far and has spoiled it. It is a serious movie but it falls.I do not think it's a bad movie, the truth is, the problem for my taste, is that when I first see Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard talking to themselves, well I do not believe it.In addition, at the beginning, he assembles a series of slow planes, which do not come to mind. That they do not count anything else for going in slow motion. They are not even pretty or spectacular. Ten minutes into the movie, like he will not let me in.The other actors are not bad, but with the protagonists they have already taken me out.Great production, therefore, great costumes, makeup and art.Management, very limited and planning nothing great.We reached the end and if the picture was quite good. The final part, although I imagine it was so red because of the blood, but I see it too gimmicky, I do not like it.I would see other versions.Spoiler:It is not good to compare with other versions, but in this case, it seems like sometimes, you have all the time in the world to tell the story and at other times, it seems that you are in a hurry, you are already in the middle of a scene, as when kill your friend, it's as if I've lost something. And when Marion is already dead. So suddenly, but how and when?