We featured the trailer for Juliet and Romeo the other day, and I have to admit, I was intrigued.
I’m fine with a good musical, and it’s been a while since I’ve seen a Shakespearean movie. Juliet and Romeo is Shakespeare for Taylor Swift fans.
We get some screeners sent to us from studios for us to review, and I could never get them to play on my TV. This weekend, I figured it out, and this was the first movie I put on.
Mrs Boba Phil was with me, so I had to put on something nice. Something not by an Italian director.
Juliet and Romeo stars Clara Rugaard, Jamie Ward, Jason Isaacs, Rupert Everett, Rebel Wilson, Rupert Graves, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Martina Ortiz Luis, Tayla Parx, and Derek Jacobi. Timothy Scott Bogart is the writer/director.
The Story
You know the story for Romeo and Juliet, but the official blurb is:
Based on the real story that inspired William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, follows the greatest love story of all time, set as an original pop musical.
In this new version, Juliet and Romeo opens with the two star-crossed lovers dead, in the church, with the families standing over them.
I thought this was odd, but the opening monologue of the original play does say:
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life.
As you know, it’s more than a passing comment; they really go down the route of the main protagonists killing themselves. Aww, isn’t love sweet?
There’s no point in breaking down the rest of the story, it is simply that Juliet and Romeo fall in love, even though their families are at war. Again, there is a little artistic licence in this version, something about the Pope wanting to stop the warring families.
One of the main issues with the movie, and there are a few, is the ending.
*Spoilers*
As we know, the original story of Romeo and Juliet is not a happy one; both the main characters end up dead.
However, we now live in 2025, and we cannot expose people to any kind of sadness and always have to have a happy ending.
At the end of the movie, after the ‘funeral’ at the opening, we find that both of them have taken poison, but it only slows the heart. In this new version, they are given an antidote and live happily ever after!
This completely misses the point of the story.
In Shakespeare’s version, it’s about how true love can mean giving up everything, including your own life. Here, I kept thinking of Peter Griffin saying:
“See Meg, everything works out if you just do whatever the hell you want and don’t think about the consequences!”
The Pros
There are some good things about Juliet and Romeo. The cast is, overall, very good, with a couple of exceptions. The main lead, Regaard and Ward, are both very good given the script they have to work with.
The other good thing was the music. In fact, I was surprised at how toe-tappingly good the music was. I’m not exactly a big one for popular music, as the kids call it, but I did find myself humming the tunes.
This being a musical, the music, with the songs, with some of the set pieces and dancing, was a great little movie.
The bad news is that the rest of the movie, all the bits in between the music, is not good.
The Cons
Unfortunately, this is going to take a while. When I first put Juliet and Romeo on, I gave it 10 minutes and nearly turned it off. The opening shots look very overly CG to the point of distraction, but I gave the movie a chance.
So, where do I start? How about with Juliet and Romeo, the main characters? Romeo is perfectly OK in the role, again, with the script he was given, he did well. It was Juliet who was one of the problems.
As I said, it’s now 2025, so we can’t have a female character that’s not, you know, ‘Girl Boss’.
Juliet, in this movie, is the one in charge. All of the conversations are controlled by her. When Romeo goes to introduce himself, she says his name before he does!
Comparing this to R+J from 1996, which is my only real cinematic reference to the story, both the main characters were likeable. Romeo was young, cocky, but still a nice guy you could be friends with.
Juliet, played by Claire Danes, was young, innocent, with a hint of vulnerability to her. This made her likeable and you even fall in love with her a little. Not in this version of Juliet and Romeo, you don’t.
She’s overly confident, brash, and a know-it-all. As I said, she dominates every scene she’s in, including introducing Romeo for him. There is nothing likeable about her at all. I fell in love with Danes’ Juliet, I didn’t hear. I just wanted to keep her away from me.
Also, I couldn’t decide who was prettier, Juliet or Romeo. Rugaard is a very pretty young lady, but he is a very pretty man. I was so confused.
Shakespeare But Not Shakespeare
As I said about R+J, the dialogue is hard work, the old English was all weird, but you still understand it. Also, the original has some wonderful lines, for example:
Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou Romeo?
Old English, simple and memorable. So it’s best to leave it out in this new version. In fact, I think there were only about two original lines of dialogue in this new version. Sorry, but what’s the point of that?
At least add some of the lines, maybe try and get the audience interested in a little Shakespeare. R+J was interesting enough to make you appreciate the original work. There is none of that here. If you’re basing a movie on an original piece of work, especially Shakespeare, try and include some of it.
Modern Audience
The one scene that killed things for me was after they were married. Again, in the original movie/story, Romeo and Juliet get married before giving up their, ummm, ‘innocence’.
In this new version, they secretly get married, which is all sweet and nice, a bringing together of the two opposing houses. Then comes the Honeymoon and the wedding night.
Both of them are about to do ‘the devil’s tango’, but each of them openly consents to what is going to happen next. They literally say ‘I consent’ before getting down to business.
I rolled my eyes so far back I could see the sofa I was sitting on. I really hate modern movies.
Overall
There are lots of other issues with Juliet and Romeo. Some of the acting goes from excellent to Tommy Wiseau, occasionally space of one scene. Then there are things like Isaacs.
Don’t get me wrong, Jason Isaacs is an excellent actor and I love his work. In this, a movie set in Italy, playing Romeo’s father, he goes with a hint of a Yorkshire accent. It took me a little while to place it, but it’s just an odd choice.
For people who don’t know what a Yorkshire accent sounds like, it’s very distinctive in the UK. The people from Yorkshire are the nicest people you could find, but the accent makes them sound a little, ummm, stupid. They aren’t, but it can sound that way. Look on YouTube, there are some great examples.
Then there is Rebel Wilson. Again, I like her; she’s got a good sense of comic timing, like playing Fat Amy in the Pitch Perfect movies. However, here she is completely miscast as Juliet’s mother. She doesn’t fit the role at all.
Juliet and Romeo is the story for the Taylor Swift generation. The music is great, really good, but the story is chopped up beyond all recognition and as far removed from the original as you can get. As I said, include some of the original lines; they are pretty iconic.
If you have a teenage daughter who begged you to buy Taylor Swift concert tickets, she will love this. Apart from that, I can’t imagine anyone else enjoying this movie; watch Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet instead, which I did afterwards and loved.
I’m giving Juliet and Romeo a generous 0.5 out of 5 stars, but that’s just for the musical numbers. It’s the rest of the movie that lets it down.
