Helen Mirren controls the weather in The Tempest , Julie Taymor’s gusty, peripatetic screen version of Shakespeare’s thunderous play. As Prospera, a female iteration of the original’s vengeful wizard, she rules the island to which she was condemned, the sky above it, and the sea that tosses at its shores. Mirren also does her level, ensorcelling best to give ballast to the film’s erratic tone by force of will and peerless commitment. She stalks the heath, herds the youngsters, and trades commands for unerring obedience with her wispy spirit, Ariel (Ben Wishaw, nude and denatured). Yet she cannot wrest the film from the meteorological whims of Julie Taymor, princess of the plodding, mistress of mayhem.
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REVIEW: Helen Mirren Helps Anchor a Rocky Tempest
