"Titus" review

Wow. 10 out of 10 stars. This movie is incredible. I saw it a couple years ago, and remembered it being good, but not this good. But then again, using Shakespeare as the script, its tough to go too wrong, although I didn't like the modern version of "Romeo & Juliet".

Titus is one of Shakespeare's bloodiest tragedies and it shows in the film. Anthony Hopkins is incredible as Titus Andronicus, and the rest of the cast does an amazing job as well. Angus Macfadyen (Robert the Bruce in "Braveheart") is great as Titus' son Lucius and Jessica Lange plays the part of a revengeful, merciless queen of the goths perfectly. Apart from the acting, I also really enjoyed the production of the film, with the mix of modern and old set pieces seemed to blend all time periods together. Along with that the costume design (which was nominated for an Oscar) worked really well in the movie, especially the costume of the victorious Titus returning from war with the goths.

One other aspect of the film that deserves mentioning was the moor Aaron. All props on this go to Shakespeare and the actor Harry Lennix. Shakespeare for creating one of his most evil and baseless villains of all time and Harry Lennix for pulling it off so perfectly that you hate him so much but he becomes one of your favorite things in the film.

If you haven't seen this movie, see it. It's long, but it certainly doesn't seem long at all (except for the last 20 seconds, they could have moved a little faster). Even if you're not a huge fan of Shakespeare I think you will appreciate the quality of acting, the amazing story, and the artful approach to a classic that this film takes.