One Sentence: The director of 10,000 BC takes on Shakespeare and Drama, and handles it quite well.
Rated: PG-13
Release Date: 28-Oct-2011
Nudity: None
If there is one thing Roland Emmerich does well it is spectacle. If it is Aliens destroying the world, cold chasing you into a building or claiming that someone else wrote Shakespeare’s works, he does it with an over the top spectacle that you at least have to admire a little bit. This is what I take Anonymous to be, an over the top spectacle of an Elizabethan drama that makes some wild claims, and does it in an entertaining way.
There is a lot of huffing happening on the internet over this movie, is it true, is it conspiracy, or is it all just fluff. I am taking this movie as inventive fiction, and nothing more. When you take it as fiction, it makes for quite an entertaining movie. While we are used to Emmerich blowing up the world, here he is more subdued in his blowing up of things, and instead goes for blowing up history just as grandly. Taking liberty with an idea and crafting it into a fine movie backed by some solid acting. Things we are not used to in an Emmerich film, and it is quite welcome. Rhys Ifans, David Thewils and Vanessa Redgrave deliver wonderful performances backed by a full cast of wonderful period actors. For the most part this is a great movie. I felt it was a little long and could use a bit more editing. This is a tiny criticism.
Tread lightly to the theater however. This is a heavy period piece with a lot of Shakespeare dialogue and might not be for everyone. It takes a lot of liberty with history and questions a lot of things. I could see how those who love the era, or Shakespeare could be offended by this movie. If none of those things bother you, then I think this movie is well worth the cost at the theater to see, if you want to dying to see a 2 hour period piece.
