Shakespeare Saturday: Much Ado Nothing Review

They had to know they were being inceptioned. They had to.

If you didn’t already know, I love Joss Whedon. This man can do no wrong in my book, and then he makes my favorite Shakespeare play into an amazing movie with almost everyone of my favorite actors associated with him. 

There are many things to say about this film, so I’m going to start with why Whedon choosing Much Ado means more to me than it does to other people. 

I went to a theatre high school, meaning the choir kids were the jocks because we didn’t have sports. So, yes, I am a theatre kid. I was constantly perplexed in college when other people didn’t have a favorite musical or have lines of plays memorized. My senior year of high school, in my Play Production class, we did a shortened version of Much Ado About Nothing and I played Hero. 

Beatrice and Hero. She's judging me.

I went to see Whedon’s Much Ado with my two best friends from high school (one was in the play with me), my boyfriend, and a friend from college. After the movie ended, my best friend who was in the play with me, reminded me of how long I was laying on the ground. She remarked on how Hero wakes up and is a part of the scene. I had the same thought during the movie! I thought for the longest time during the soiled woman wedding scene that Hero wasn’t going to faint. I swear that when I was in the play, I said two lines and then I was on the floor until the curtains came down. So, good job on that one Whedon. I had the hardest time not laughing every time we did that scene. Clearly, I was an amazing actress. 

Other things to mention:

FRAN KRANZ HAS SUCH A SEXY BOD. I didn’t know. I already loved him, but now I want him to have a three some with me and my boyfriend. I think my boyfriend will be down. I’m also glad he is not Claudio, because truthfully I would never get together with that d-bag.

Nathan Fillion and Tom Lenk need their own buddy cop movie. They were adorable and I loved them. Those parts aren’t memorable from my high school version; these men gave them their own life and made the movie in a lot of ways. 

I could not unhear Ashley Johnson as Ellie (see my review of The Last of Us if you have no idea what I’m talking about). 

It was heart wrenching to see Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof be together romantically in a film. FINALLY. They have great chemistry as a couple on screen and they needed a happy ending. (Watch Angel if you have no idea what I’m talking about). 

Lastly, Joss and the actors did something with Shakespeare that has never been done for me before. Without having to read line by line in English classes (boo Hamlet and extra boo to Romeo and Juliet), I understood completely what was occurring in the plot. Even acting as Hero, I did not fully grasp the meaning of every line my fellow actors were saying. But in this movie, I laughed at all the right moments during the right moment. I didn’t have to think about it and then laugh later. Everything made sense. 

Due to its impeccable directing and acting Much Ado About Nothing deserves a 5 out of 5. Also, I want Whedon’s house. I want to be his best friend and live in his home. I would be his maid just to be in his home and listen to him and his friends read Shakespeare plays. Stop me, I’m fangirling.