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Sep 03, 2015lukasevansherman rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
"You must not, sir, mistake my niece. There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signor Benedick and her." For every successful Shakespeare film, there are about 3 that don't work. A key problem is that contemporary film actors can't really make his language convincing. Another is that directors too often go for gimmicks (Shakespeare in Miami! Shakespeare in space!) rather than substance. Joss Whedon's adaptation of the comedy "Much Ado About Nothing" doesn't take many liberties, even though it's in modern dress. Whedon and his friends spent about 2 weeks filming this at his house so it has a loose, low-key feel to it and Whedon fans will recognize a lot of the actors from other projects. Comparisons with Kenneth Branagth's 1993 version are inevitable. That wasn't a great film, but it had a better cast and more spirit. This is just kind of boring, with many of the actors coming off as awkward. Really only Clark Gregg, Nathan Fillion, and Amy Acker (as Beatrice) pull it off. Modern audiences will no doubt be a little confounded by the whole virgin/cheating/fake death subplot. It is a fairly accessible version of Shakespeare and would probably work well in a class. "Sigh no more ladies, sigh no more. Men were deceivers ever."