hamburgers, chips and iambic pentameter

Rating: Null/10 (12 November 2003)

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. 1996 A classic Shakespeare play remade by director Baz Luhrmann for our times.
Based in the city of Verona, we are told a story of two lovers, Romeo and Juliet and their feuding families, the Capulets and the Montagues.
Still using the original 400-year-old script, this movie has been revamped for the person with a shorter attention span. Luhrmann has worked quite cleverly with turning a love story in to an action romance hybrid. A John Woo-esque fight scene comes to mind.
Starring ladies choice Leonard Di Caprio and not quite men's flavour Claire Danes, the movie stays grounded and gets straight to the point, a no brainier for those who don't understand Shakespeare's work. Being remade for our times, I think people can understand where Shakespeare was coming from. Baz Luhrmann answered to the education system's cry for help and came to their rescue with this antidote to the younger audience.
Although this film is not everybody's hamburger and chips, I say don't knock it 'til you've seen it.