Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.
The problem for any fresh undertaking of Shakespeare’s star-crossed romance is that the shadow of Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 revamp looms so large.
So it’s sensible that Carlo Carlei's adap adopts a traditional, unfussy approach, with characters garbed in puffy-sleeved medieval finery, sauntering around gorgeous Italian locations and spouting the Bard’s extravagant dialogue in easy-to-follow soundbites (courtesy of a streamlining job by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes).
The forbidden lovers are teen-girl-friendly casting, with Hailee Steinfeld a relatable Juliet and Douglas Booth a boy-band-pretty Romeo. Paul Giamatti offers good value, too, as Romeo’s friar confidant.
Perfectly respectable, but it won’t linger in the memory like Luhrmann’s.
