Release Date: 12/21/2008 Original Release: 2008 Format: DVD Length: 92 minutes Rating:Not Rated Rating Reason: for language including sexual references, brief nudity and some drug content UPC: 025195038201 Studio: Universal Studios Home Video
Much like the inspired protagonists of his two favorite movies, DEAD POETS SOCIETY and MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS, high school drama teacher Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan) is going to save the arts. Marschz's first obstacle: Shakespeare killed off all the major characters when he wrote Hamlet, which puts a damper on his plans for a musical sequel. Luckily, Marschz has an ingenious literary device to circumvent that last doozy: a time machine built in woodshop that will catapult Hamlet and his new pal, Jesus Christ, into the present day and back again just in time to save Gertrude, Laertes, and the gang. This brilliant piece of theatre is born in the mind of Marschz upon the announcement of the drama club's impending cancellation, prompting the failed actor to take the advice of a ruthless freshman drama critic and finally write something that isn't an adaptation of ERIN BROCKOVICH. But when authorities try to have the production banned because of its offensive material, it's going to take the inspiration of actress-turned-local-nurse Elisabeth Shue (playing herself), the will of Marschz's young students, and the wiles of a feisty lawyer (Amy Poehler) to get Hamlet 2 in front of an audience.
HAMLET 2, the movie, is singular in its melding of grotesque theatre spoofing, schadenfreude, and complete subversion of the underdog-defiance genre's familiar trajectory. Rarely has a film hit conventional plot points only to take the wind out of their sails so effectively while nevertheless moving toward a destination not entirely unlike where its mainstream counterparts would go anyway. HAMLET 2's subdued lack of traditional filmic values and glaring music cues, as well as its performances, which manage to fold earnestness and deadpan into one another, amount to a movie that simultaneously deconstructs, skewers, and affirms. Like any good satire, it is what it's lampooning.
DVD Features
Keep Case Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85 Full Frame - 1.33 Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - French Subtitles - English (SDH), French, Spanish Additional Release Material: Deleted Scenes Audio Commentary: 1. Director/Co-Writer Andrew Fleming 2. Co-Writer Pam Brady Featurette: 1. Making Number 2 2. Oscar Winner vs. High School Drama Class 3. Sing Along with Hamlet 2
I don't know if I'm just in a good mood because it's Xmas and Santa was good to me this year, but I really rather dug this strange little film. It has flaws that run consistently throughout it, but... Read the whole review at MatchFlick
Posted on August 24, 2008
Reviewed by: Jarrod
A sequel to Hamlet is unthinkable, and unworkable, but it does serve as the basis for this outrageous, crude, and silly comedy from Andrew Fleming, featuring the gifted, always engaging British actor... Read the whole review at MatchFlick
Posted on December 26, 2008
Posted on August 24, 2008
