Review of Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Kenneth Branagh

I will have to admit: I never really considered myself to be a Shakespeare girlie. I found the Bard’s work to be something that existed only within English classes in high school, and I was bored of those for sure because I wanted to read more contemporary works from living authors.

While there are many merits to revisiting the classics, there’s definitely an argument to be made about teaching the living authors as well in English classrooms. That said, I had never read Much Ado About Nothing throughout my time in high school or undergrad, and the most Shakespeare I read for graduate school was The Tempest.

Yet, somehow, I was really bored one day and found myself scrolling through Kanopy. I saw this movie pop up on my screen, kind of shrugged my shoulders, and decided to watch it. I think it was the fact I recognized Kenneth Branagh’s name and knew he was known for his Shakespeare work.

And that, my friends, is how I ended up watching this film.

Let’s get into the review!

An adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic text Much Ado About Nothing.

At the beginning of this movie, an uprising had just been quelled. Don Pedro knocks down the quest by his half-brother, Don John, and then decides to visit a friend, Leonato, in Messina. Don Pedreo brings Benedick, Claudio, and Don John with him, despite the fact these two were fighting not long ago.

Turns out Claudio has a crush on Hero, and he returns looking for her. Don Pedro learns of this, and decides to have the two arranged to marry. Don John wants nothing of the sorts to happen, but fails in trying to stop it. Don Pedro thinks he has a penchant for doing this, so he decides to get Beatrice and Benedick together.

There’s a catch: these two hate each other so badly here. They start the plan by staging an entire conversation on how Beatrice loves Benedick while he’s standing right there. Hero joins in with her gentlewomen, discussing Benedick right in front of Beatrice.

Somehow, they believe these conversations. Don John is still plotting to break up Claudio and Hero, and arranges an act that makes it look like Hero is engaging with infidelity. This obviously does not land well, and conflict arises.

However, things are about to get foiled when the watchmen overhear Borachio bragging about how he helped stopped the wedding and orchestrate all of the events. They decide to do something about it, and one of them, Dogberry, fails to communicate to the other main characters what happened.

The wedding starts. Claudio reveals the infidelity in front of everyone then dramatically storms away. The guests leave except for a select few, and then the Friar comes up with a plan to publish a story that Hero died from the grief of being accused. Beatrice and Benedick then apparently decide now is the time to romantically confess.

She then asks Benedick to kill Claudio, and he agrees to do so. Don John escapes his interrogation, but word breaks out of what he did. Benedick challenges Claudio, and Leonato discovers the truth of what happens. He decides to pretend that Hero is dead, and gives forgiveness to Claudio.

He tells Claudio he has to marry Hero’s cousin the next morning, and when that wedding happens, it’s revealed to be Hero. They confess at the altar, and Beatrice and Benedick decide to get married. He also gives up his challenge to Claudio.

Don John is then brought in. Everyone dances, and Don Pedro happily looks on at his friends.

Overall Thoughts

I honestly don’t have a ton to say about this movie! I thought it was comedic and worth watching, but it’s certainly a Shakespeare adaptation at the end of the day.

Certain plot points I didn’t care for, and the plot doesn’t make sense at times, but you have to throw away your reservations sometimes in order to nod along to the story.

Go watch it if you’re interested.

Follow me below on Instagram and Goodreads for more.