A horrible epic

Rating: 2/10 (14 May 2000)

This is the worst movie I have seen this year and I saw "Romeo Must Die". Popcorn farers will consider this movie deep, moving, and informative. In reality, the acting is horribly melodramatic, more sentimental and overblown than anything I have seen in a while. I felt like I have seen every scene in this movie about a thousand times before: that's how filled with cinematic cliches the plot is. Only redeeming future are a couple of great fight scenes, especially the one with the juggernauts, which was the only time I found myself cheering for either of the sides. That marks another major fault of the movie: in the opening scene, it is impossible to tell who the characters are, and what side they are on, with exception of Maximus (who we simply know to be a Roman from the ads) and one big German guy too animalistic to be on Rome's side. There is some foreshadowing done with a dog, who one expects to play a major role in the battle or to functon prominently in the rest of the movie, it does neither. I am not even gonna mention the historical errors, but looking up Lucius Verus or the Gracchus brothers in the dictionary should be enough. That, and I still haven't figured out why Romans should speak with a British accent. Oscar voters should fall in love with this: it's an epic, it scores huge at the box office, all performances are overdone. If you ever liked a Fellini or a Kubrick film, stay away. 2 out of 10.