{"id":8355,"date":"2025-01-26T14:27:13","date_gmt":"2025-01-26T19:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/?p=8355"},"modified":"2025-01-24T14:29:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T19:29:50","slug":"hamlet-2-an-underrated-masterpiece-kinda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/?p=8355","title":{"rendered":"Hamlet 2: An Underrated Masterpiece (Kinda)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jude Magnotti \u201826
\n<\/span>EE<\/em> Co-Managing Editor<\/span><\/p>\n

After reading the title, I know what you are thinking, but please: HEAR ME OUT!!! First off, you are probably asking yourself, \u201cThere’s a Hamlet 2?!? How could you possibly make a sequel to one of the greatest tragedies in all of literature? I AM ABOUT TO CRASH OUT.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Believe me, that was my exact reaction when I found out this information as well. Despite the two sharing the same namesake, they could not possibly be more different\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

If you discovered Hamlet 2<\/em> exists, you would probably think it was some alternative indie take on the English tragedy. It does include a take on Hamlet, but the take years more to the \u201cwhat the actual heck is going on\u201d approach rather than anything based in the world of reality or rationality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of an actual sequel to Hamlet itself, Hamlet 2<\/em> is a stand alone film written and produced by the co-writers of South Park starring Steve Coogan as your normal wildly dysfunctional failed actor down on their luck theater teacher (believe me, I am no stranger to those!) trying to put on his own version of Hamlet 2 in order to save the school\u2019s theater program.<\/span><\/p>\n

No doubt this film had heavy shoes to fill due to the acclaim of its predecessor. Fortunately, as soon as you find yourself enthralled in all the movie has to offer, you begin to forget why it is even called Hamlet 2<\/em> in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the absolute absurdity of the entire film, it manages to be remarkably funny in its delivery of such a preposterous premise. With all-out performances by Steve Coogan, Amy Poehler, and even Elizabeth Shue (Yes, Elizabeth Shue!), the fun that both the actors and crew had with this movie is on full display and at times transfers itself to the audience as well. <\/span><\/p>\n

I can not begin to count the number of times this movie had me questioning my very existence; then, ten seconds later, I was dying of absolute laughter and shock on the floor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, if you are not a fan of bawdy dialogue, risqu\u00e9 jokes, and destruction of your brain cells, then this movie is not for you.<\/span><\/p>\n

What works for the movie is that it does not take itself seriously. However, this can at times become its curse. Occasionally, the scenes can lead too much into the absurdity of the relationships presented and not enough into the dramatic flare that makes it special.<\/span><\/p>\n

As sympathetic as the movie wants us to be to the main character’s plight, the relationships are simply too eccentric to be believable and instead we end up content in confused laughter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, the show-stopping nature of the final act combined with the almost disturbing relatability for theater kids and teachers alike has us far more satisfied than we expected to be coming into it. <\/span><\/p>\n

No, it is not emotional. No, it is not romantic. Yes, it can make you want to painfully bang your head into a wall. Yet, Hamlet 2<\/em> still manages to do the impossible: not completely suck.<\/span><\/p>\n

It understands it\u2019s genre, it\u2019s place, and it\u2019s purpose not trying to be anything other than the disorganized psychedelic madhouse it is. And for a sequel to arguably the most perfect work of fiction ever created, that is pretty good.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jude Magnotti \u201826 EE Co-Managing Editor After reading the title, I know what you are thinking, but please: HEAR ME OUT!!! First off, you are probably asking yourself, \u201cThere’s a Hamlet 2?!?…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":8357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8356,"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8355\/revisions\/8356"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}