Bond star Ralph Fiennes stuns as Shakespeare villain Richard III

IF you thought Ralph Fiennes was scary as Lord Voldermort in the Harry Potter movies, you should see him as Shakespeare’s nastiest piece of work.

Just like Laurence Olivier in one of his most famous roles, Fiennes can turn a winning grin into a look of pure evil in less time than it takes to orchestrate another slaughter of an innocent.

Richard isn’t kidding when he says, ‘I can smile, and murder whiles [correct] I smile.’

Rupert Goold’s production is riveting from the start – before the start, actually – when a group of archaeologists are seen digging up a Leicester car park.

Then begins the dramatisation of the nerve-jangling events leading to King Richard biting the dust of that same car park to wait more than five centuries for someone to find his remains.

Fiennes’ dominates the action as the death rate climbs faster than in the goriest episode of CSI.

But there’s also Vanessa Redgrave on hand, who as Queen Margaret contributes another layer of class in just two scenes as she berates Richard for his part in the death of her husband, Henry VI, and his son, Prince Edward.

Modern dress and the mobile phones used by the sharp-suited royals and courtiers help emphasise that intrigue and betrayal are no strangers in today’s corridors of power, even if the actual corpse-count is less.

Goold’s version of Richard’s journey along the blood-soaked road from the Battle of Bosworth Field to a final resting place under a car park at the age of 32 will mesmerise and chill the blood – yours, that it.

Try to catch Fiennes’ majestic performances when it is broadcast live to cinemas on July 21.