‘Macbeth’

This sits up there with some of the very best screen adaptations of Shakespeare’s stage plays. It looks stunning with sweeping Isle of Skye vistas, slow-mo battle scenes, appropriation of figures looming through mist and fog along with suitably dour costuming.

Australian director Justin Kurzel has chosen to make it surprisingly less bloody than anticipated (although this is the Dark Ages – there’s still plenty of it!) and the pace is brisk – it’s almost matter-of-fact in its telling. At the film’s core is a powerful central performance by Michael Fassbender ably supported by Marion Cotillard (La vie en rose, Inception) and a bevy of character actors.

The only thing against it on a personal note is that Macbeth is one of my least favourites within Shakespeare’s canon.

Rating: 67%

Director: Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, The Turning)

Writer: Todd Louiso (The Marc Pease Experiment), Jacob Kaskoff (The Marc Pease Experiment), Michael Lesslie  – adapted from the play by Shakespeare

Main cast: Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave, X-Men), Marion Cotillard (La vie en rose, Inception)