The Hollow Crown: Henry IV, Part 1 (2012)

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Siskoid
The Hollow Crown casts Tom Hiddleston in the role of Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part 1, and that's for the good, but I'm almost disappointed they recast Henry IV and didn't find a way to age up Rory Kinnear, who I thought was excellent as the young Henry in the previous chapter. Still, you're not exactly badly served by Jeremy Irons, and Hiddleston has a good time doing an impression of him in the faux-court scene with Falstaff. When it comes to this play, call me crazy, but it's always the casting and performance of Hotspur that most interests me. See, the half of the play that has Falstaff in it takes care of itself. But if Hotspur is weak, the other half is sunk. Good news, I really like what Joe Armstrong does with the role. His energy in this is without compare, and I personally know it works if, at the end, I'm sorry to see him go. The direction here is less cheesy than in Richard II, even if the music cues are just melodramatic strings, and the battle scene is filmed as chaos with a calm drunken center (Falstaff) at the heart of it. As usual, Hal's destiny haunts him to good effect, and I think Richard II set things up memorably enough that we understand why there's a civil war in this time frame. 3 years 4 months ago