Wow! A different approach to Shakespeare...at last!

Rating: Null/10 (29 April 1999)

I have just finished watching this updated version of 'Romeo + Juliet' and I can honestly say that I am stunned. Being an English Literature student, I am constantly bombarded with films that try to give a different contemporary twist to age-old themes.
Most of these attempts fail miserably, leaving audiences bewildered by the peculiar onslaught of images they are subjected to. 'Romeo + Juliet' however, succeeds where others fail by making Shakespeare seem genuinely hip and cool. I thought, at first, that using the traditional Shakespearean language would make the movie seem out-dated, but the addition of fast cars, cool clothes and an attitude you could break rocks on transforms the dialogue into slang language that comes across almost like a regional dialect.
True, the lead performances are weak (DiCaprio is not a convincing Romeo and I think that Danes, while acceptable, does not shine in the role) and the overwhelming examples of religious imagery (there is even a picture of the Virgin Mary on a clock face) are sometimes a little too blatant, I am pleased that someone has, at last, had the guts to pull Shakespeare kicking and screaming into the 20th Century.