Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

alr126 Since I can't go below a "1", that will have to do. I was never fan of Shakespeare, let's stat with that. That being said, I could barely make it 25 minutes into the film. It was not at all what I expected. I was looking for a period piece about a Roman General, I really didn't need the symbolism, I found the boy a major distraction, when the motorcycles came into the film, I turned it off. That was absolutely enough. I wanted to see some fine acting by Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange, that was not to be found. All in all, I found the symbolism taking more away from the film than adding to it. Guess it's partially my fault, I should have researched the film more before watching it. All in all, the short part of the film I watched was horrible.

pontifikator The best film of 1999, directed by Julie Taymore and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Harry Lennix, and Alan Cumming.Taymore brings Titus into the modern day in some of her staging of the film, but the dialogue is all Shakespeare, and the cast is excellent. It's a pleasure to see Hopkins playing a real character with many facets instead of Hannibal Lecter.In classic tragedy, the hero fails, brought down by a flaw which would have been a good trait if the hero had not had so much of it. In Oedipus Rex, for example, Oedipus would have been fine but for his overweening curiosity. In Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare's title), our hero is honest. Too honest for his own good. He has returned from war with Tamora (Jessica Lange) a Goth queen as his slave, and the emperor has died, leaving two good-for-nothing sons as his heirs apparent. When offered the crown, Titus rejects it out of hand: Of course not, the crown goes to the eldest son. Titus should have accepted the wreath. All his woes befall him for not knowing he would do better for Rome.Before you see the movie, I recommend getting a copy of the play in one of the several editions that explain the language as you read the script. Read it before you see it so that you have some understanding of the beautiful Elizabethan language. The Folger Shakespeare Library or Arden Shakespeare edition should be at your local library. When people ask why Shakespeare's plays are written as they are, I've heard it answered that it's because that's how people talked back then. I assure you, no one ever talked that way. Read an annotated script so that you understand the Elizabethan English these consummate actors spread before you.Hopkins, Lange, Lennix, and Cumming all get to chew the scenery, the screen, the frame, and even some of the seats. My shirtsleeves were in tatters when I left the building. It's a great piece of Shakespearean theater, and Taymore lets it all out. That said, this is a true tragedy, and there is no happy ending for Titus Andronicus and his entire family. Where in "Fracture" Hopkins plays the guy who pulls the rabbit out of the hat, here in "Titus" Hopkins's character has to gnaw his paw off in a vain attempt to get out of the snare set by Tamora. Never has integrity been so ill repaid. Taymore does a remarkable job of bringing the play to the screen. And it got nominated for Best Costume Design. Feh.

tubby1 Titus is a film that does have a certain allure but it alienates just as much with its peculiar segments within the film. For all its gusto and confidence Titus fails to be as poignant as it could be.The period is created with a flurry of modern additions, which at times does not look that far out of context with the overall picture but would have been better to maintain in its intended setting. Indeed the inclusion of Lucius, a young boy who is ignored and then brought into the film (you will understand if you see the film)is rather bizarre and unexplained progression, which I did not like.Harry Felix and Angus MacFadden are the stand out performances with Anthony Hopkins and Alan Cummings giving powerful displays which are both hindered by the over dramatics created in the film. The score is at times too over-the-top to take seriously, and the story is dark and harsh which will quell people's potential enjoyment.Titus for all its art and craft manages to sustained itself through its strong acting but its bravado is too much to be able to palate in reasonable proportions.

jimb77 After watching Julie Taymor's screen adaptation of William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, Titus, I can now understand why so many people feel alienated and baffled by Shakespeare's excellent plays and why in many cases they believe them to be the province of a pretentious pseudo intellectual elite. For myself, having read the play several times, but never fortunate enough to see it, I was disappointed to see this stunning play sullied by gimmicks delivered without tasteful discretion. Surely the Bard's brilliance speaks for itself? However, yet again I'm bearing witness to a production where the directorial decisions appear to be serving personal ego rather than gifted artistic integrity.The context of the play is ancient Rome, yet the viewer is treated to a hotchpotch of clumsy visions filched from various time periods, to name but one example stylised Roman Legionaries - impressive in themselves – but then motorbikes and cars! Whatever happened to the beauty of straightforward, clear simplicity? Shakespeare was a genius, remembered and admired to this day because of the universality of his themes, brilliance of his characterisations and his awesome way with words. Scarily, Julie Taymor thinks she's better than him - or perhaps she know's she's not and is simply creating a smokescreen. The soundtrack frequently drowns out speeches; obviously what the characters are saying is not as important as Julie Taymor's crass visuals! Imagine the crassness of Lavinia (raped and mutilated off-stage) by psychedelic tigers. I'm torn between saying "Emperor's New Clothes" and just plain embarrassing.However it is the misdirection of the actors that is my main gripe and the film's major flaw. With the exception of Anthony Hopkins and James Frain who valiantly bring a degree of sincerity and believability to their performances, the film is rife with overacting, incoherent gabling and in many cases amateurish performances – Jessica Lange, Matthew Rhys and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers are particularly culpable - the unfortunate product of an untalented director and actors who are for the most part out of their depth and have no idea what they are talking about! A wasted opportunity and a crime that is all too frequently committed!