Didn't quite win me over

Rating: 4/10 (25 January 2007)

During the first half of this movie I was MAD. I seriously thought it was a joke at first- the whole fight scene in the beginning was weird. I couldn't accept all these thugs with guns spouting Shakespeare; I didn't find it believable at all. They took a line, "thy drugs are quick" completely out of context, and used it when Romeo gets high at the Capulet's party, which made me really angry. I didn't like what was done with the characters of Benvolio and Mercutio, and Claire Danes didn't always sell her role of Juliet very convincingly. The whole balcony scene where they're jumping into a pool in her backyard was kind of strange.
It did have some nice moments, though. The scene where Romeo and Juliet meet was very cute, and the wedding scene was sweet as well. After Act 3, where Romeo kills Tybalt, it got better. The fall out after the murder was fast-paced and interesting. I was really impressed with the last scenes in the church; they were breathtaking and beautifully shot.
Even though it redeemed itself in the end, most of it still didn't sit right with me. Too much of it felt like it didn't just fit. Maybe it was that it tried too hard to fit into the 90's atmosphere, or maybe Shakespeare just can't be modernized. Overall, I preferred the classic Romeo and Juliet to this interpretation.