Here’s a guest post from what we hope to be a regular robot here, CupcakeTron.  She’s another Geek Grrl and would be a welcome voice around these parts.

Click here to watch the trailer to The Tempest at Apple in Glorious Quicktime.

The special effects in the trailer seem a little outdated, and I would’ve though that they would have altered any actor’s voice whose character wasn’t human. Since Julie Taymor is on board, and her past project seem to be laden with visual, I’m going to assume that it’s an homage to the “stage trickery” of when The Tempest was performed on stage. However, I think it’d be easier to not have to focus on the special effects, when there is such a wide range of character actors that should be able to convey the sense of mysticism through performance. I’m hoping, at least.

I can’t mention enough how much an ensemble cast like this should carry the movie. Using creative touches like casting Djimon Hounsou as Caliban and Russell Brand as Trinculo makes it interesting to see where they take their characters.

I have absolutely no complaints with changing the gender of Propero, if it means Helen Mirren gets yet another chance at a meaty role while flexing her classical stage muscle. I was rather hoping to see her in something asexual (ex: Tilda Swinton in Constantine), but I guess the character of Miranda has to be produced from somewhere. At least they let Mirren get some kind of masculine haircut and wax feminism all over the screen.