Editing Hamlet (1990 film) (section)

===Critical response===
Initial reviews for Zeffirelli's ''Hamlet'' were mixed.<ref name="ear" /> [[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, calling [[Mel Gibson]]'s portrayal of the Danish Prince "a strong, intelligent performance."<ref name="Ebert">{{cite web |date = 18 January 1991 | last =Ebert | first =Roger | author-link=Roger Ebert |title=Hamlet (1990) | work =[[Chicago Sun-Times]] | publisher=[[Sun-Times Media Group]] |location=Chicago, Illinois  | url =https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hamlet-1991 | access-date=1 May 2020 }}</ref> Caryn James of ''[[The New York Times]]'' praised Zeffirelli's "naturalistic, emotionally-charged" direction and also commended Gibson's "visceral" performance, describing it as "strong, intelligent and safely beyond ridicule."<ref name="nytimes"/> [[Peter Travers]] of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' gave the film a negative review, calling Gibson's performance "an earnest but pedestrian reading."<ref>{{cite magazine | last =Travers | first =Peter | author-link=Peter Travers |title =Hamlet  | magazine =[[Rolling Stone]] | publisher=Wenner Media LLC|location=New York City|date = 18 January 1991  | url =https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/hamlet-19910118 | access-date =31 May 2012}}</ref> Michael Wilmington of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' called Gibson's Hamlet an "Oedipal wreck" and stated that either [[Kenneth Branagh]] or [[Daniel Day-Lewis]] would have been preferable to play Hamlet than Gibson.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wilmington |first=Michael |title=MOVIE REVIEW : Gibson as Hamlet Has Little to Add |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-01-18-ca-189-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |date=18 January 1991 |access-date=10 March 2020 }}</ref> A later editorial in the same paper would refer to Gibson's performance as "the most unaffected and lucid Hamlet in memory."<ref name="ear" />

On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of 76% based on reviews from 37 critics. The site's consensus was, "It may lack some of the depth and complexity of the play, but Mel Gibson and Franco Zeffirelli make a surprisingly successful team."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1109679-hamlet/ |title=Hamlet (1990) |work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |publisher=[[Fandango Media]]|location=San Francisco, California |access-date=31 May 2020 }}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a score of 53% based on reviews from 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hamlet |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/hamlet-1991 |website=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=2020-10-10}}</ref> Audiences surveyed by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film a grade A on scale of A to F.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title= HAMLET (1991) A |work= [[CinemaScore]] |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date= 2018-12-20 }}</ref>