Romeo + Juliet

As a 12 yo girl I don't understand Shakespeare one bit. It's like a different language that u just get bored of trying to translate. But this movie - I understood every bit of it. And I loved it. Why is there all this hate? Especially for Leonardo, his performance was beautiful and I'm not just saying that bcs of his face but it was genuinely moving and Clare Danes was great in it too. It's not the greatest movie I've ever seen no. But in 2021 I don't care if this movie is gonna change my life or not or if it's a masterpiece or a flop, I wanna watch a movie that I'll be entertained by and moved by. And that was this movie.

I wouldnt change a thing. The acting was beautiful, the scenery, the costumes, the raw emotion. The best version of this tale yet.

It's not often that I've seen a movie three times and I can't give it a rating any higher then a 6.

I think I really tried and forced myself to like this since I can appreciate the modernization of this old story and the creativeness that was attempted.

Maybe it's unfair to say this movie is hard to follow. The dialogue is obviously a challenge for any inexperienced viewer but the story is familiar and each scene makes sense even if you're struggling to understand what each actor says. That being said, it's nothing special. Each time I finish watching this movie I just feel like it's ok. There is no gut wrenching impact it has left on me and I can probably affirmatively confirm this now after the third viewing. It's an interesting movie, a bold, perhaps unnecessary, punk-like remake that swaps swords with guns and also attempting humour. A part of movie history to say the least.

I just finished watching the movie about ten minutes ago, so it's pretty fresh in my mind. Odd. Very, very odd. Perhaps I'm biased due to the fact that I have a strong dislike for DiCaprio, but that was very odd. The costuming was--way out there somewhere. It was put together oddly. The death scene (which to me broke the show)--gosh, why not keep it the way Shakespeare had written it? There was no Paris/Romeo tryst (I suppose that would be a bit abstract with guns--yet another of the movie's downfalls), and Juliet woke up before Romeo was completely dead! I saw a very real TITANIC flash-back right about then--must he do all his death scenes the same? Mercutio was made to be MUCH too annoying in my opinion, so I felt it hard to pity Romeo when his best friend is killed. They murdered the balcony scene completely!

Maybe it's just that I'd prefer the Old English swords and parties to modernized adaptations. I wouldn't recommend it, or WEST SIDE STORY, while I'm at it.

If you like abstract and weird, go for it. But I prefer traditional Shakespeare, and I found it hard to enjoy it.

The amazing thing about this movie is that it has managed to re-do Shakespeare's famous tragedy in a modern setting while still retaining its original dialogue. What's even more amazing is it works. I admit that I was a little apprehensive about seeing this movie, fearing that Luhrman had either destroyed the play's beauty and power by setting it in modern times, or had butchered Shakespeare's eloquent words by making them sound more modern. I was wrong. Almost everything about this movie is just incredible.

Luhrman brilliantly casted Claire Danes as fourteen-year-old Juliet. The actress certainly looks the part, with her youthful features and innocent eyes. More importantly, she acts the part. Ms. Danes almost flawlessly captures Juliet's distressing journey from childhood to womanhood, beautifully showing her dramatic transition which had taken toll on her during her five day relationship with Romeo. When the story begins, Juliet is a naive girl, having not yet experienced true love, and by the end we can clearly see just how much her love for Romeo has deepened in passion, and how dramatically her character has developed.

Leanardo DeCaprio's Romeo was almost equally impressive. Some of his recitations of Shakespeare made me cringe, but for the most part he was perfect. One of Romeo's most important characteristics in the play is the intensity of his emotions, and DeCaprio captures this feature incredibly. Romeo is brash and impulsive, with a tendency to act on the heat of the moment rather than to first consider the situation like the more levelheaded Juliet. This unfortunate characteristic, which played a huge role in leading up to the lovers' tragic fate, is wonderfully mastered by DeCaprio and retained throughout the film. But we also, like with Juliet, get a glimpse of his character's development. At the beginning of the play Romeo is a hopeless romantic who fantasizes of love, and seems to dwell more in his daydreamed world than actually on earth. At this point he has no idea what true love really is, he only thinks he does. It is not until he meets Juliet that he can begin to comprehend the true depth and passion of love. DeCaprio triumphs in this area as well.

The other actors are superb, and wonderfully portray their characters as Shakespeare intended. But what really impressed me was, as I stated earlier, the keeping of Shakespeare's original dialogue in Luhrman's modern setting. I know some people criticize this film for destroying the romance and beauty of Shakespeare's words by setting the story in modern day Verona, but I feel that it only made the film more romantic. What Luhrman did was both bold and brilliant, and he succeeded wonderfully.

I won't speak any more of the brilliance of this film, I just highly recommend you see it as soon as possible. If you're a fan of Shakespeare like me, I think you will enjoy this hip, yet still lovely, modernization of his most famous play ever.