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The Tempest

Play trailer Poster for The Tempest PG-13,  2010,  1h 49m,  Drama/ Fantasy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 30% 86 Reviews Tomatometer 28% 10,000+ Ratings Popcornmeter
30% Tomatometer 86 Reviews 28% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
A shipwreck casts members of a royal court ashore on a mysterious island. Their fateful arrival is no accident, for it was engineered by Prospera (Helen Mirren), a sorceress whom these men banished, and who now plans to take vengeance on them. With the help of Caliban and Ariel, her sometimes-unwilling aides, Prospera brings her powers to bear on her former tormentors. Then love casts a spell on her daughter and the king's son, and Prospera is powerless to intervene.
The Tempest

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Director Julie Taymor's gender-swapping of roles and some frenzied special effects can't quite disguise an otherwise stagey, uninspired take on Shakespeare's classic.

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Critics Reviews

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Violet Lucca Film Comment Magazine Jun 28, 2013
Dispensing with tableau compositions, this adaptation feels liberated from static theatrical and, to a lesser degree, cinematic convention by the overall openness of its staging and camerawork that's somewhere between handheld and Steadicam. Go to Full Review
Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Apr 20, 2011
4/5
The film has plenty of detractors who see Taymor's approach as strained and overwrought, but Mirren finds some grace notes that no Prospero could ever have sounded. Go to Full Review
Philip French Guardian Mar 7, 2011
The special effects are intrusive and anything but magical and the text is rather curiously edited. But it's worth seeing for Mirren. Go to Full Review
Amie Simon Three Imaginary Girls Mar 7, 2019
... something about The Tempest just didn't work for me. When I see Taymor's name on a film I'm expecting something grand and beautifully fantastic, and this just fell a little flat. Go to Full Review
PJ Nabarro Patrick Nabarro Dec 2, 2018
2/5
With the exception of Ben Whishaw - who with the help of some imaginative CGI and his own beautiful verse-speaking - the rest of the actors mouth the lines without much élan. Go to Full Review
Sean Burns Philadelphia Weekly May 3, 2015
Julie Taymor has a theatre director's idea of how movies work. That's not a compliment. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Kylo M Feb 15, 2019 It certainly couldï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)ve been worse, but I was highly unimpressed. Even though the film and sound quality were both nice, I was confused with the producerï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)s choice in visual effects. Ariel had a very ethereal quality, but some of his scenes were almost too exaggerated; it felt excessive. The exception to this is the Tempest scene. It was exciting and more intense than I expected. The setting was fantastic and well made! Calibanï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)s character was better than I wouldï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)ve imagined and the producerï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)s choice to cast Prospero/a as a woman was risky, but ultimately paid off in their favor. Helen Mirren played the part well. Some of the lines felt unnatural, like the actors didnï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)t KNOW what they were saying. Iï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)m sure they did, but I wasnï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)t sure they understood what was happening the entire time. The movie was at 100% drama all the time, but there were moments that I donï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)t think they executed the humor that Shakespeare wrote into the original Tempest play. It felt like a play producer decided to make a movie. All the drama of a play, all the production quality of a movie - and that isnï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)t a compliment. Humor: 1/5 , Production: 5/5 , Acting: 4/5 , Drama: 2/5 , Shakespeare-ness: 3/5 See more
Dec 4, 2018 We read the Tempest in my humanities class, and watched the movie afterwards. It is completely ridiculous, especially Ariel's appearances. Super 90s style special effects which are the only entertaining part of the movie because theyï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2(TM)re so ridiculous. Weird sexual tension between Ariel and Prospera. Caliban is pretty ridiculous. Everyone is pretty ridiculous. Prospera somehow has fancy clothes and magic objects and alchemy stuff even though she and Miranda were supposedly sent to the island with very little. The flashbacks to their banishment is supposed to show a 3 year old Miranda but she looks at least 7. Spent the whole class wanting to leave because literally anything would have been better, even watching paint dry. See more
Harry G Jul 21, 2017 If you ignore Russell Brand then this is an interesting take on one of Shakespeares last plays.
Anakin S May 28, 2011 Comedy-drama film based on the play by William Shakespeare. Doesn't feel very much like a movie and with bad scenery. Keep away! See more
Hermione S Dec 10, 2010 Julie Taymor has a theatre director's idea of how movies work. That's not a compliment.
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The Tempest

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Julie Taymor

Director

Helen Mirren

Prospera

Felicity Jones

Miranda

Djimon Hounsou

Caliban

Ben Whishaw

Ariel

Reeve Carney

Prince Ferdinand

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The Tempest

(L-R) Helen Mirren as Prospera, Felicity Jones as Miranda and Djimon Hounsou as Caliban in "The Tempest." Helen Mirren as Prospera in "The Tempest." (L-R) David Strathairn as Alonso, Alan Cumming as Sebastian, Tom Conti as Gonzalo, and Chris Cooper as Antonio in "The Tempest." (L-R) Ben Whishaw as Ariel and Helen Mirren as Prospera in "The Tempest." (L-R) Chris Cooper as Antonio, Helen Mirren as Prospera, Alan Cumming as Sebastian, and David Strathairn as Alonso in "The Tempest." (L-R) Chris Cooper as Antonio and Alan Cumming as Sebastian in "The Tempest." Ben Whishaw as Ariel in "The Tempest." Alan Cumming as Sebastian in "The Tempest." Helen Mirren as Prospera in "The Tempest." Chris Cooper as Antonio in "The Tempest." View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis A shipwreck casts members of a royal court ashore on a mysterious island. Their fateful arrival is no accident, for it was engineered by Prospera (Helen Mirren), a sorceress whom these men banished, and who now plans to take vengeance on them. With the help of Caliban and Ariel, her sometimes-unwilling aides, Prospera brings her powers to bear on her former tormentors. Then love casts a spell on her daughter and the king's son, and Prospera is powerless to intervene.
Director
Julie Taymor
Producer
Julie Taymor, Robert Chartoff, Lynn Hendee, Julia Taylor-Stanley, Jason K. Lau
Screenwriter
Julie Taymor
Distributor
Miramax Films
Production Co
Chartoff/Hendee, TalkStory Productions
Rating
PG-13 (Some Nudity|Scary Images|Suggestive Content)
Genre
Drama, Fantasy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 10, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$263.4K
Runtime
1h 49m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
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