Took a while to used to the original dialogue in this Tarentino-ish retelling

Rating: 7/10 (24 September 2014)

I'm glad I finally watched this but I'll be honest I struggled to stay with this slick, fast paced update of the Shakespeare tragedy. I wasn't expecting the original dialogue and it took a bit to get used to.
Leo steals and captivates every scene that he's in though; so young, so cute and so talented, just amazing and it was through him that I eventually got into the movie. It's a very modern MTV-ish sort of retelling set in the violent, hip netherworld of Verona beach where the gun-toting Montague and the Capulet families battle for power and territory.
At times this felt like a Quentin Tarentino movie in its visual style, cool music and random bizarreness. Great performances all-round but especially from Harold Perrineau, Romeo's gender bending friend and John Leguizamo as his arch rival. The big battle between these three is when the movie really took off "a plague on both your houses" and the last half an hour is captivating as our star-crossed lovers meet their tragic destiny all because of stupid UPS. 9/20/14