A horrible remake of a classic story

Rating: 1/10 (17 February 2005)

I find it a shame that there is only one peer submitted review of this awful version of a classic play that has withstood the test of time. As such, I wish to give another view, as well as an opposing view to the only one on here.
Luhrmann may stay with the original dialog, but he plays fast and loose with the script. Anyone who has actually sat down and read the play as Shakespeare wrote it would know this. Example: Opening scene. In this "version" the Capulets are the targets of the Montague's insults. In the real version, this is reversed. A minor yet significant example, since in the original the reader has a small sympathy for the Montagues who are apparently just minding their own business when these idiots harass them. The names of the families on the guns to represent their "swords" is just ludicrous, not to mention the "duel" between DiCaprio and Tybalt. And yes, DiCaprio wasn't popular when this film was made, but that doesn't mean he did a good job at acting his part. He didn't. Nor did Claire Danes. They sounded like my 9th grade peers reading the text from their English book in total monologue. No emotion, no passion, no reason to listen to them, 'Nuff said.
And while we are on the subject of DiCaprio's reaction to Mercutio's death, why don't we talk about a little something known as "Breaking the Tension," something that Luhrmann does better than anyone. During the famous scene where Romeo's best friend dies, we see perhaps the one and only time Leo shows true emotion to convey sorrow of losing his friend. Then we see the rage in his eyes as he swears revenge on his enemy. The pressure builds. We can feel the tension building up.
Then out of the blue Danes is singing a song and laying on her bed, leaving us to wonder what the heck just happened.
Do you see what has happened? We were all set, ready to see this dramatic scene unfold and climax, knowing its inevitable conclusion, we felt the blood rushing as we leaned forward on the edge of our seats, then we are smacked in the head with a sappy, lovely scene.
Anyone who knows anything about filmography knows that this completely breaks the tension that was building up. That is bad. It is bad because now the audience feels like it has been removed from the action, like waking up from a dream suddenly. After doing that, it is impossible to get back into the movie. And sure enough, we see Mr. Leo with a fixed look of anger and determination. We see him take out a scared Tybalt. But you know what? We don't care anymore, because we're still miffed about a moment ago when Luhrmann decided to throw us for a loop. We can't engage the moment anymore because we're now between two opposite feelings: One being the love Danes has for her Leo, and the hatred and anger Leo has for Tybalt. If Luhrmann had done this right, he would have had the entire scene with Romeo from the beginning to end (like Franco Zeffirelli did) and THEN put Danes bedroom scene in, AFTER the "duel" between protagonist and villain. This way, we would have felt the way Juliet does when she realizes something is wrong. We would have felt her world fall apart in front of her eyes when we were supposed to have done so: After the fight with Tybalt winds down and Romeo's rage is calmed.
And give me a break regarding the "this movie is above criticism" line. Even without all of its flaws (which, by the way, I have only touched some of the flaws in slight detail) ANY movie, ANY book, ANY play, ANY song, ANY piece of art that has, is or ever will be made for commercial use is open to criticism. Why? Because the author/artist/writer/etc. wants to be paid for their work. Now, if I am going to pay for something, I want the item in question to be quality. That goes for everything, including movies. I have only seen this movie in passing on the television, so I have not paid a penny for it. Nor will I.
And yes it is dumbed down for teenagers. Watching this version is like watching the vast majority of MTV music videos. They look visually pleasing, but that's to cover up the fact that the performers can't write good music. Same concept here.
In short, if you want a good Romeo and Juliet movie, this isn't it.