Review of Much Ado About Nothing (2013) by Matt W — 26 Oct 2013

A charming and witty version of the Shakespeare play, that works in it's modern setting.

I like Shakespeare, yet I did not know much about 'Much Ado', it was always the one play that I looked over. And when I was younger it was always the name that I knew Billie Piper was in in the BBC series 'ShakespeaRe-Told'. I was a big 'Doctor Who' fan, and still am.

I am also a big Whedon fan, and although he adapted Shakespeare's script to fit a 1 hour 50 minute movie- his biggest traits are found in his direction- whether it be clearly OTT moments with Benedick or Beatrice trying to hide from the people talking about them getting with each other- or the so very effective work with Nathan Fillion.

And this movie is very funny. There are some scenes that are pure Whedon, and I loved it for that. That's enough gushing. Now to the performances that are all very good here, with the stand out for me being 'Amy Acker' who made me laugh from start to finish. Clark Gregg is charming here, and Fran Kranz plays a good Claudio.

I really enjoyed Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, but I definitely found this film to be an easier watch, and this could be down to the play itself, or maybe down to the way the films are presented. Whedon takes a very calm and simple camera style, so it gives you time to understand who all the characters are, as you don;t just click with the characters, it takes time to work out who is who.

Well it takes time for me anyway.

The only problem I had is that it took a little while to get into, and this isn't completely the film's fault, as it is Shakespeare and it will always be a little difficult to become accustomed to at first, but I found that the relationships between the characters could have also been defined a little clearer at the beginning.

As the film was only filmed in a few weeks, there is nothing truly spectacular- it is just a simple film with a simple story of love. It's funny, charming and has some great moments. It leaves you feeling warm inside, and is classic Shakespeare.

If you don't like Shakespeare, give this a go anyway, and after about 20 minutes, you will slowly delve into the language and the story, and have a really good time.