This is the third filmed Much Ado About Nothing I've seen, and I have to say I enjoyed all three more or less equally. All of them had some parts that didn't work for me and some excellent parts that became my particular favourites.
Turns out this one has delivered my favourite don Pedro and Benedick. I thought Adam James brought extra nuance, warmth and a certain sense of melancholy to his part - of course in addition to sense of fun. I also felt that he had amazing rapport with Benedick and Beatrice, interactions with these two stood out to me chemistry wise. He was fine with others as well, but not as sparkly (this might have also been determined by how the play itself was written, I'm not sure). Actually, he was probably my favourite in the first part, in the second part Benedick unquestionably took over.
As for Benedick, I just loved David Tennant in this role. Not gonna lie, I went to seek out this version because of him, and he didn't disappoint in the slightest. In fact, this part probably turned me into a proper fan. I wanted to check out his Shakespeare work after watching the latest Around the World in 80 Days - can't say I loved this adaptation as a whole, but I was incredibly impressed with his Phileas Fogg. I thought that despite a rather weak script and clunky lines he managed to portray an almost Shakespearean character, so incredibly nuanced and powerful that I just wanted to see more of him (I've seen and liked him in other stuff before but somehow never bothered to look into his work properly). His Benedick is a delight - fun, dumb, almost innocent at times, infuriating, moving, capable of baring his soul, empathising and admitting responsibility etc. And all in a very nuanced yet seamless and natural way. A very charismatic performance.
Have to admit, I never liked Branagh as Benedick much - he and ET had amazing chemistry, but on his own as Benedick he lacked certain charm and lightness for me, he didn't soar, everything about him felt a bit heavy-handed. Denisoff in Whedon's film was more cerebral than usual, I liked that he was different, but no wings in sight as well. Tennant had all that and more, I think he'll remain my favourite.
I also want to praise Tennant's diction. As not a native English speaker I was worried about watching Shakespeare undubbed (never done this before), but I had absolutely no trouble following his lines, despite his rather strong Scottish accent, I rarely even had to check the subs. I amazed myself with that, lol.
I wasn't quite as impressed with Catherine Tate, at least not always. The way she delivered her lines sometimes felt like she was reciting a lesson in school (not always, but on occasion) and I had to check the subtitles quite often. I saw some people weren't enthused with her dangling act, and I have to agree. Of course it was the director's decision, but I felt that Tate's acting in that scene didn't help as well - too one-note and broad. I think I understand the idea - to play it more circus-like, but to me it felt way too long and stopped being even slightly amusing in about a minute. Well, you can't catch them all.
I loved CT's scene with don Pedro during the ball and all her scenes with Benedick (I see some criticised her acting in the declaration scene, but I thought her going from hysterical to giddy to almost awed was perfectly natural, I bought it, the "eat his heart" monologue was also well done, imo). She did pretty well with comedic scenes in general (except for the dangling bit).
I haven't seen a lot of Doctor Who, but I remember watching a couple of episodes when Tennant's Doctor was paired with Tate, and I thought they sparkled together. Their chemistry here was also pretty great, though a bit different. It wasn't more sexually charged (I don't really think it's a necessity in Much Ado, sorry, the sense of play and genuine affinity between them is way more important), but it sparkled nonetheless. That said, to me it seemed that CT played practically the same character as she did in Doctor Who, as little as I've seen of it, while Tennant played Benedick as a different character. Can't help but wish she tried to go in a bit of a different direction with Beatrice as well, I don't think their chemistry would've suffered as Tennant seems like a very accommodating, elastic sort of actor, but overall the play would've gained more nuance and balance. Emma Thompson stays as my favourite Beatrice, but I still liked Tate's take, she didn't spoil anything for me (I'm stating it specifically as I feel that this part is the lynchpin - uninspired Beatrice would kill the whole play dead).
In fact no one here spoiled this interpretation for me, everyone else was from good to all right. I doubt anyone ever unseats Nathan Fillion from Whedon's Much Ado as my favourite Dogberry (with Tom Lenk's Verges) - in fact, the only Dogberry I properly enjoyed, who's shown me this character can actually be an asset in the play all on his own. Sorry, wasn't a fan of Keaton's take (and I like the actor). This Dogberry was all right, and I actually loved his last scene, it was well done.
Don John was properly sinister without much of a reason and socially ill adjusted (not a blight on the whole production like sweet Keanu, God bless him), the actor did as well as he could in this thankless part. My favourite Leonato also comes from the Whedon's film (Clark Gregg), but this one was OK. Claudio was a proper doofus with underdeveloped teen sensibilities, I liked RSL in the Branagh film better, but again, not bad at all. Imelda Staunton is still the best Margaret.
As production and direction go (in my judgement as a "naive reader"), I quite liked the setting, stage design and all the costumes, as well as music. I thought it was well thought out and merged together for the most part, and had a unique style. I think I liked most of the directorial decisions (except for that unfortunate dangling of course): how the ball was done, that keyboard thingy Benedick played, the paint panto, the chairs in church, can't think of anything I really disliked. I am also a fan of "the boy" and his different appearances, how he was used throughout the play.
Overall, this production left an aftertaste of something light and fresh, a little bitter-sweet (like the play itself). It wasn't perfect, but it was fun, at times moving, VERY enjoyable, and I will certainly rewatch it more than once.
