Starting with a tracking shot around Richard's grotesque twisted spine, Cumberbatch gives a subtle portrayal of evil shot through with a sense of murderous fun as he colludes with the viewer in his treacherous plans.
Ben Power's adaptation keeps the plot moving fast but in this part of the trilogy, some poetry is lost - Queen Elizabeth's plea to the stone walls of the Tower to protect her captive sons and, more unforgivably, Clarence's dream of drowning.
This is Dominic Cooke's first filmed work and the trilogy has an assured, cohesive vision. Again Sophie Okonedo is marvellous as Queen Margaret, cursing the royal family who learn too late she is right, and in a relatively minor role as Richard's mother, Judi Dench is magnificent in her final denunciation scene with him.
Shelf or charity shop? Ruling from the shelf, the
final death toll incidentally is 25... farewell Clarence, Edward
IV, Lords
Hastings, Grey and Rivers, Princes Edward and Richard, Queen
Anne. Buckingham, Catesby and of course, you know who...
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