Emma 2020 Review:

I recently got to watch the newest Emma first with my Mom and then with the rest of my family.

Set: the sets were beautiful and colorful.

Music: the music was fitting and very nice.

Dancing: six person and three person stars? are those even a thing? and if Mrs. Elton was opening the ball she would be at the head of all the dancers, not in the middle.

Costumes: the costumes where as far as I can tell with my limited knowledge, historically correct. Mrs. Elton's hair was from a little bit later of a time, but I can see her trying to dress in the next big fashion.

Character interpretation/casting:

Emma Woodhouse: I think it was very well cast. I didn't like how much they exaggerated Emma's rudeness to Jane Fairfax though, in the book Emma does try to make conversation with her at first but retreats when she gets nothing but short reserved answers from Jane.

Mr Knightly: When I first heard that they where going to make him "more human" rather than the always self assured gentleman that previous adaptations portray I was I little bit skeptical, but while I still prefer the aristocratic strong knightly, they executed their humanizing of him very well. A new view that certainly called the audience's attention to his jealousy and struggles. 

Mr. Woodhouse: while I still prefer it when he is truly a little infirm, him being only very parodied was executed well and was certainly very entertaining.

Harriet Smith: What happened to her eyebrows? I like how it shows how much she likes Robert Martin from the start. While it does a good job of showing how dependent on Emma she becomes, I could do with her sounding a little less childish, she is 17 not 12. I also did't like how they had her see that Emma likes Knightly and reproaches her for her meddling, it is out of character for her to be that observant in the book and especially in this movie.

Robert Martin: Me and my sisters have fondly nicknamed this Robert Martin as "Puppy boy" in honor of the adorable puppy face he has as he watches Harriet leave fords. One of the best Robert Martins that I have seen. he displays the right amount of sophistication, puppy, and farmer for a truly magnificent effect.

Mr. and Mrs. Weston: they where both well portrayed, as I am yet to see the pair of them not be I am not sure what else I can say... I like how Mr. Elton pointing to her stomach in reference to her expecting a child being the reason for her not dancing is in line with my theory of why she did not dance.

Frank Churchhill: Not the best frank I have seen, in my opinion. Frank is supposed to be dripping with charm for the entirety of the story. I do like how out of breath he is after carrying Harriet.

Jane Fairfax: Outstanding! the perfect mixture of reserve and yet being perfectly polite. I love how they had her play a piece that is far more complex than the one Emma played from memory.

Miss Bates: if an Emma adaptation lacks a good Miss Bates half of the laughter is gone, and this adaptation had a superb Miss Bates. From the way she talks across the church in "that inconvenient tone of voice that was perfectly audible while it pretended to be a whisper" (Persuasion chapter 23) to the way she so elated and happy about the fact that she just saw then through the window, it was very well done.

Isabella Knightly: I don't think they brought out her caring side enough. Yes she is worried about people getting sick, but it is because she is truly worried and wants to help those who are unwell when she can as can be seen in the book by her having Harriet to stay with her in London for no other reason than so Harriet's tooth can get looked at by a dentist. I would have liked to see a bit more of that side of her.

John Knightly: One of the best John Knightlys that I have seen to date. the dry sarcastic humor, the slight exasperation at his father in law, and yet the true brotherly caring he shows to Emma. although his and Isabella's relationship was not portrayed as loving as it is in the book.

Mr. and Mrs. Elton: these two where very well played and well cast. Mrs. Elton declaring a fear of being over trimmed while having chosen to wear a dress with like 3 lace ruffles on each sleeve is hilarious. I am not sure if I lake Mr. Elton getting out of the carriage on the road after he is rejected, but I can see where they are coming from with trying to show how much his pride is hurt and how angry he is. I do wish that they had shown more of Mrs. Elton attempts to make Jane Fairfax her doll.

Proposal: with the whole Harriet knowing what is going on, Knightly almost in tears despite the not sad music, Emma's nose bled, Emma reveling that Harriet is in love with Knightly to Knightly and Emma insisting that the Harriet Robert issue be resolved first, it was too crowded. One or two of them could work well and enrich the seen, but all of them together creates unromantic ciaos in my opinion.

Kiss: Emma and Knightly's first Kiss was beautiful. it unlike the proposal had the right amount of other stuff going on, while the focus still remained on our heroine and hero.

All in all it was a beautiful adaptation, with well developed and mostly accurate to the book characters, beautiful scenery, costumes, and music, and while I think some of the scenes and plot decisions could have been done better it is defiantly a good version.