It has to be reckoned something of an achievement for Taymor to have delivered such a reverse reading of this play. Prospero is Shakespeare's autobiography, and he is not a woman. The island landscape here is barrenly lunar, Icelandic even, rather than mysteriously magical. Caliban should be a Carib, not an African, in spite of being the son of Sycorax of Algiers. Ariel seemed reasonably impressive to me, but the best part was delivered by Felicity Jones as Miranda, as the fifteen year old being introduced to adulthood. But the shipwrecked crew do not exactly represent a brave new world to me. Brand and Molina are not funny in the slightest, but then few of Shakespeare's clowns raise a smile these days. Ferdinand is a complete non-entity. It was disconcerting to recognise (just) Tom Conti. Mirren was not really at her best. The play resembles many of Shakespeare's works in that it is positively stuffed with quotations, familiar to anyone with anything approaching a halfway reasonable education. Still, I must admit that I followed the action with some interest, and was engaged by a desire to discover what would unfold. An oddity, not without merit. The extra feature was worth while.

This is quite odd, because while I far from thought it was great, I seem to enjoy this movie a lot more than most people. It's probably because I know virtually nothing about "The Tempest" play. From what I've heard, it was reportedly the last play Shakespeare worked on. I just wanted to see a representation of a significant play in his career. I think I'm probably lacking some bias. If I was more familiar with the play like most people, I probably would find it a lot worse. I guess I'm lacking that bias so I think it's a lot better than it probably deserves.I really do like the colors in this movie and how bright everything is. It's hard to review something when the original play is more well known but I actually know little about the play. This certainly seemed to be an experiment for Shakespeare. I really couldn't help but love Russell Brand in this. Seriously, that guy's so much fun I wish I'd see him more. I guess what weighs this down is that it is kind of hard to take seriously. The effects do come off as pretty goofy in this, but I didn't think it was so bad. **1/2

Prospera duchess of Milan (Helen Mirren) was cast off with her toddler daughter Miranda by her brother Antonio (Chris Cooper). Antonio subverted her rightful rule after the death of their father. On the island, she enslaves the beast Caliban (Djimon Hounsou) taking control. Twelve years later, Miranda (Felicity Jones) is all grown up. King Alonso (David Strathairn) is sailing back after his daughter and her new husband's wedding with his son Ferdinand (Reeve Carney) and Antonio. Prospera takes revenge by unleashing a tempest to wreck their ship and stranding them on her island.Julie Taymor does Shakespeare by replacing the main male character with a woman. That's basically the bulk of what I took away from it. Shakespearian scholars will have lots more to debate. For the rest of us, this is an acting and writing exercise. Helen Mirren is one of the best actresses around. It feels different to have a woman as Prospera but not necessarily inferior. It feels less intense but maybe almost as compelling. The special effects are not the most well made. At times, it looks like a good TV movie. Julie Taymor doesn't have the best CGI talents. The sparse Hawaiian location is more compelling. More than the usual Greek islands, these locations project power and isolation. The other actors try their best but the men don't excel. Djimon Hounsou gives a reasonably beastly performance. Felicity Jones is overshadowed by Helen Mirren. Other than the locations, I don't have anything outstanding to stake my review on.

From the very start, I could not follow this movie. It just happened to be on, and while I did tape it, I had to watch everything because too much stuff would have to be deleted quickly otherwise.Rewinding didn't help. I couldn't follow the ancient dialogue. I just had to do my best and hope I could figure out what was going on.I finally concluded that Helen Mirren was playing some kind of witch and the pretty girl was her daughter.The shipwrecked men were rescued in a miraculous way--not even getting their clothes wet.The naked spirit worked for Mirren's character. The weird-looking black man was some kind of servant.I finally found something I could enjoy as Stephano and Trinculo showed up. There was something modern about these drunk morons, Even some of their clothes looked modern, and I couldn't help but wonder if Shakespeare had really written their dialogue. If so, he really was a genius. And because he loved the liquor they gave him, the man-fish I later found out was Caliban wanted to meet their every need. Somehow these drunk idiots seemed out of place in Shakespeare, even turning the magnificent Caliban into a moron, but they worked for me.The romance involving the daughter didn't do much for me.Mirren's performance, whether it meant anything to me, was nothing less than magnificent. Powerful at times, gentle at others, alternating between cruel and forgiving.Djimon Hounsou also gave a powerful performance, though he could be funny too. Once he ended up with the two jokers, I couldn't help but think something was lacking in his style. But he was making me happy for a change, so I can't fault him.One thing I really didn't care for was the music. Some of it was rock, and some of it was just plain weird. None of it existed in Shakespeare's time, but I guess if they couldn't make the dialogue modern, they could do it with the music.Whether I liked it or not, it was mostly a worthy effort.