Review – Richard III (1995)

My biggest gripe here (aside from the play not exactly being my favorite Shakespearian effort) is that Ian McKellen’s performance in the title role is so delightfully over-wrought that it ends up making a loathsome character just a little too adorable. Some of the celebrity casting is a little inappropriate as well; for instance, Robert Downey Jr. doesn’t quite seem up to even a supporting role. However, all that’s more than made up for by the genuinely interesting art direction. The language is pure Elizabethan England, but the sets and costumes are far more evocative of the reign of Edward VIII, providing an intriguing parallel between the semi-fictional Richard’s Nazi garb and the real-life Edward’s Nazi sympathies. And if nothing else, it’s nice to see a modern film adaptation of anything by the Bard that isn’t clogged with witless teen stars who seem as if they’ve learned their lines the same way ABBA was rumored to have learned their English lyrics. Worth seeing