Over-the-top Macbeth full of sound, fury and wow

For his New York stage debut, Kenneth Branagh could have gotten away with anything. A solo reading of takeout menus? It’s a hit!

Instead, the Shakespeare expert brought over a big-ass production of “Macbeth” that’s like a 1950s Hollywood epic come to life. The show — which Branagh co-directs with Rob Ashford, in addition to playing the title role — is totally over-the-top in an old-fashioned way.

The action begins before the play does, with theatergoers divided into several Scottish clans — Robertson, Fife, Cawdor and so on — before being herded into the Park Avenue Armory’s ginormous Drill Hall. We reach our seats via a stone path cutting through craggy moors, the murk pierced only by torch-carrying shadowy figures.

Seated on steeply raked benches, we look down on a long, narrow pit flanked by huge Stonehenge-like boulders on one end, an altar lit by dozens of candles on the other. It’s a little bit pagan, a little bit “Game of Thrones,” and all wow.

And then — holy crap! The three witches materialize, along with burly soldiers, and suddenly real rain is pelting down on a fierce battle while deafening martial music explodes out of the speakers so often used in medieval Scotland. Seems Branagh picked up a few tricks when he was directing “Thor.”

And that’s just the first five minutes. That would be enough to make the show an event, but then there’s Branagh himself, a vision of beefy, ginger-haired masculinity in his kilt and leg warmers. The man has charisma to spare, and his Macbeth is a mighty warrior, well-matched with the fiery Lady M. of Alex Kingston (still best known here as Dr. Elizabeth Corday on “ER”).

Backed by a fine ensemble, the pair steers the play at breakneck speed. When things threaten to calm down, up spring fire and violence. Banquo (Jimmy Yuill) lets out hideous piglike squeals when his throat is cut.

Still, don’t go looking for new revelations about the Scottish play here. The show is full of sound and fury, signifying . . . not very much. Broadway’s bloody 2008 production with Patrick Stewart — chillingly set in a morgue, or perhaps an insane asylum — was more insightful and frightening.

As pure spectacle, though, Branagh’s “Macbeth” is hard to beat.