For those of you who have seen the photos, watched the trailers, read the hype and think that Coriolanus is all about Fiennes and Butler duking it out, think again. Sure, there are a few strong fight scenes - but the real drama is between Fiennes and Vanessa Redgrave, who plays his mother.

 

The concept of taking Shakespeare to a modern setting (borrowed from Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet) is strong, and nearly realised. However, in a post-Arab Spring world, audiences have a pretty good idea of what dissidence and violent uprisings look like - and this isn’t quite it.

 

Other than that, the movie is strong, and while Fiennes can’t quite pull off walking around in a wifebeater, he looks a lot more scary in this than he does as the Dark Lord. Definitely worth checking out, and if you’re going to, the Phoenix is as good as anywhere.