Much Ado About Nothing

1993

Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance

31
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 90% · 50 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 86% · 50K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.3/10 10 54192 54.2K

shakespearean play shakespeare new love rage and hate bachelor masked ball

Please enable your VPΝ when downloading torrents

If you torrent without a VPΝ, your ISP can see that you're torrenting and may throttle your connection and get fined by legal action!

Get Surf VPΝ

Plot summary

In this Shakespearean farce, Hero and her groom-to-be, Claudio, team up with Claudio's commanding officer, Don Pedro, the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick and Beatrice -- a tough task indeed, considering their corresponding distaste for love and each other. Meanwhile, meddling Don John plots to ruin the wedding.

Director

Kenneth Branagh Photo
Kenneth Branagh

Top cast

Keanu Reeves Photo
Keanu Reeves as Don John
Denzel Washington Photo
Denzel Washington as Don Pedro
Kate Beckinsale Photo
Kate Beckinsale as Hero
Emma Thompson Photo
Emma Thompson as Beatrice
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
955.5 MB
1280*694
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 51 min
Seeds 11
1.79 GB
1920*1040
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 51 min
Seeds 34

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by bob the moo

Wonderful sparky fun which only flags in the final 10 minutes

The arrival of Don Pedro and his men at the home of Seigneur Leonato in Messina brings about much celebration. The spirit of love and happiness is alive in the party and Count Claudio and Leonato's daughter Hero make woo and engage to marry within a week. To pass the time Don Pedro makes a pledge to engage confirmed bachelor Benedick and the bickering Beatrice together in a tower of affection. However Claudio's brother, Don John, conspires to break up the wedding by making accusations against young Hero. Will it all be much ado about nothing?If anyone has done more to bring Shakespeare to a modern audience of multiplex dwellers, I'd like to meet them. Here Branagh yet again adapts a Shakespeare play to good effect, trimming the dialogue of some important sections with the aim of creating a lighter feel worthy of the title. I make no mention of the plot suffice to say that Branagh has done well to keep the essence and feel of the work very true but without forcing the tools that Shakespeare readily used but may not work on modern audiences easily (i.e. not being able to recognise someone easily when they wear a mask, veil or moustache!).The dialogue is very sparky as you'd expect and Branagh has done well to interpret the humour from the words on the page. I think of the dialogue around the police officer. Reading it from the page I never realised how much humour could be drawn form this characters scenes in terms of how the other characters view in. Of course the praise of lies with Shakespeare but Branagh knows the Bard well.The cast is international and all-star (probably to a greater extent than it needed or deserved). Branagh is pure wonder in the lead and really brings out the whimsy in many of his scenes. Thompson too is wonderful and the two play off each other well. The film lost a little when the two begin to woo, but it is still enjoyable. Briers is excellent and Blessed is a bit hammy and underused (forcing big background laughs). Reeves is OK in a small role – the lack of significant dialogue helped him. Washingon fits in very well, Leonard is good but straight. Of the Hollywood stars I think Keaton does the best. When he is onscreen he is a little OTT but he is simply hilarious as the fool of the piece, and Ben Elton is an interesting sidekick. Beckinsdale is good but again is not given much meat to work with outside of her perfect love for Claudio.Overall this is a very enjoyable version of the play. Those who find Shakespeare difficult could do well to start here with something light and bubbly. Those who enjoy Shakespeare will enjoy it as another version. Only those who feel that the Bard should not be put onscreen for the masses (and there are some who think this way – I have met them, they laughably call themselves purists – elitists I think) will find fault here, because this clearly has mass appeal.
Reviewed by redcrossaint 8 / 10

Another Shakespeare-Branagh adaptation, this time very entertaining, too

Much Ado About Nothing (1993)3/4I usually don't like Kenneth Branagh, but I feel when he's working with Shakespeare that he does a great job. "Much Ado About Nothing" is Branagh's second Shakespeare adaptation, after "Henry V" of three years prior. But here, as not with the insufferable "Peter's Friends" or some of his other movies, Branagh is able to garner more interest and believability for us within Shakespeare. Sometimes I even wonder about Branagh's acting ability, which can vary from fantastic to mediocre. He's very good here.But, this isn't a movie with just Branagh, you see - he got the big guns - Emma Thompson, Keanu Reeves, Michael Keaton, Kate Beckinsale and Denzel Washington to star alongside him. One of the best parts of the movie, even, is Branagh and Thompson, who are absolutely superb together. It is a singularly remarkable cast, especially with them, too.Anyway, the film is exactly an adaptation of the play, which follows a group of people, gathering together a week before a young couple, Claudio and Hero (Robert Sean Leonard and Kate Beckinsale), get married. The gathering also inspires to set the known bachelor, Benedick (Branagh), up with a woman needing a husband, Beatrice (Thompson), who don't like each other at first, but grow to become aware of each other and the plan for them. Essentially, as with many of Shakespeare's works, there are all kinds of economies and all kinds of convolutedness going on.For a little bit, I had a little trouble following the film, but I was always entertained and able to keep track. It took me a while to put all the pieces that I know together, but I found the experience tremendous anyway, and a superb story to tell. No doubt, the reason I was able to keep track was because of Branagh's screenplay, which is actually very nicely written.Another thing that the film does so well is its absolutely breathtaking photography, which, for lack of a better word, is simply stunning. The score is sweeping, too, with great music accompanying the film as it plays beautifully and breathtakingly. But I think the reason I like the film so much is how everything comes together - especially the cast, which are very good together. Even with the Shakespearian dialogue and intricate plot, it represents fine entertainment, no doubt because it's pitched so warm and well-made.
Reviewed by Lorenzo H. 7 / 10

Energetic and highly entertaining film marred only by Keaton's performance.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING is a virtual feast for the eyes and ears. From the beautiful Tuscany landscapes and wonderful music score to the great performances of Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson and Denzel Washington, this film's high energy and good spirits will effortlessly sweep you off your feet. For close to an hour this movie can do no wrong and has some great visual and comedic moments. It is around this time however, that we are unfortunately introduced to the character of the constable played by Michael Keaton. His scenes in the middle third of the movie seem quite incongruous with the rest of the film. Every word out of his mouth is virtually unintelligible. To make things worse, his performance is so `Pythoneseque' and over-the-top that it actually feels like slow torture watching it. Its as if Beetlejuice had suddenly invaded the movie. Director Branagh's mistake was not in casting Keaton in the role, but in having him play the character as he did.

The Film happily does rebound in its last twenty minutes and concludes in a moving and joyfully uplifting celebration that is extremely well choreographed. This last sequence consists of one long, continuous tracking shot which is truly amazing. The camera starts at ground level and weaves in and out of courtyards, buildings and dancing revelers to end up not only a good city block from where it started but what actually seems to be ten stories high looking down on the proceedings with a gods eye view. It is a fantastic end to a flawed but extremely entertaining movie. I recommend it to all lovers of not only Shakespeare, but of ‘feel good' movies as well. Had it not been for Keaton's sour note performance, I would have given the film an 8. As it is, a 7 out of 10 will have to suffice.

Read more IMDb reviews

2 Comments

Be the first to leave a comment