I, like many others in the geek culture, am a Joss Whedon junkie. I was introduced to the Whedonverse with Firefly (unfortunately after it had been canceled and Serenity had already been made). I loved it so much that without ever seeing a single episode, I bought the entire box set of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Since then, I have watched, and liked (if not loved) everything he’s done. I even liked Dollhouse more than most people did, for what it was.
On the flipside of this, I LOATHE Shakespeare. I understand that the content of his work is brilliant, but just can’t get past the “Old English” dialogue, which I find very confusing to follow. Even if I can follow the story, the style of dialogue takes me out of the story to a degree that I just can’t enjoy what I’m watching.
With these two things being said, I sat down for a grand experiment: Can Joss Whedon get me to enjoy Shakespeare? Whedon has mentioned in many interviews that he loves Shakespeare, and would often invite the cast and crew of his projects to his home to have Shakespeare readings. In October of 2011, he took this one step further, and in complete secret, professionally filmed his adaption of Much Ado About Nothing at his home in a 12 day period. With Joss Whedon’s keen sense of humor and directing, and a cast of actors including Whedonverse vets such as Amy Acker (Angel, Dollhouse, Cabin in the Woods), Alexis Denisof (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse), Sean Maher (Firefly/Serenity), Fran Kranz (Dollhouse, Cabin in the Woods), Nathan Fillion (Firefly/Serenity, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) and Clark Gregg (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. + all Marvel movies), would it be possible for me to FINALLY enjoy a work of Shakespeare?
Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, the answer is no. I think I made it 10 minutes in before I started getting confused and losing interest. I was proud of myself that I made it a full 45 minutes in before I picked up my phone and started playing Candy Crush Saga.
The performances seemed good, though not being a Shakespeare fan, I’m not really the best judge of something like that. Even with actors I enjoy, I still couldn’t get past the “Old English” of Shakespeare’s work. I had a hard time following the plot, and knowing who any of the characters were.
For me, the saving grace of the movie was Nathan Fillion’s performance as DogBerry. I’ve never seen any other version of Much Ado About Nothing, but it seemed pretty clear that DogBerry is a character meant as comic relief, and even in “Old English,” Fillion nailed it. He’s not very bright, and after being insulted, every scene he’s in for the rest of the movie he brings up the fact that he was insulted, which I found very funny.
I honestly could have lived without watching Much Ado About Nothing. Going in, I pretty much already knew I wouldn’t like it, but wanted to give it a chance just because it was a Joss Whedon project. There are plenty of other things I could have done during a Sunday afternoon that I would have enjoyed more. At least it gave me something to write about though. Also, it taught me a lesson: It IS possible for Joss Whedon to do a project that I don’t enjoy. Even his genius is not enough to get me to enjoy the works of Shakespeare. Lesson learned.