Continuing our new series on movies based on the plays of Shakespeare, we return to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Whilst West Side Story is the most renown, there have been several other adaptions of the play. Today we feature two very different retellings of the story.
Romeo Must Die is a 2000 American martial arts action film directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak in his feature film directorial debut, and featuring fight choreography by Corey Yuen. The film stars Jet Li and Aaliyah in her feature film debut, her only film before her death a year later in August 2001. It follows a Chinese former police officer travelling to the United States in order to avenge his brother’s death. He falls in love with a rival mobster’s daughter as they struggle against both the Chinese and the American mobs. The plot is loosely related to Romeo and Juliet transplanted to contemporary Oakland, California, with African-American and Chinese-American gangs representing the feuding families.
Frustrated by the lack of originality in Hollywood action films, producer Joel Silver built the film around Hong Kong action films. He cast established Hong Kong actor Jet Li following his role in Lethal Weapon 4. R&B singer Aaliyah was cast, and sung the soundtrack’s lead single “Try Again” which topped the US Billboard
Gnomeo & Juliet is a 2011 animated romantic comedy film directed by Kelly Asbury from a screenplay by Rob Sprackling and John Smith. It is loosely based on the play Romeo and Juliet. In Stratford-upon-Avon, elderly neighbours Miss Montague and Mr. Capulet despise each other. When they leave their respective gardens, their garden gnomes and other lawn ornaments come to life. The Montague garden is filled with blue-hatted gnomes led by Lady Bluebury, and the Capulet garden is filled with red-hatted gnomes led by Lord Redbrick, who share in their owners’ feud. In a back-alley lawnmower race, Lady Bluebury’s son Gnomeo competes against his Red rival Tybalt, who destroys Gnomeo’s lawn mower. That night, Gnomeo and his best friend Benny infiltrate the red garden in disguise and vandalize Tybalt’s mower, but Benny instead vandalizes Tybalt’s pedestal and accidentally triggers a security light. During their escape, Gnomeo ends up in an abandoned garden nearby and bumps into a disguised Juliet, daughter of Lord Redbrick, who dislikes her father’s overprotective nature and is attempting to retrieve a unique Cupid’s Arrow orchid from the roof of the greenhouse. The two are enthralled by each other and a flirty fight for the flower ensues, culminating in the pair falling into a pond and discovering each other’s colours. Shocked, Juliet flees home and tells her frog-sprinkler friend Nanette about her newfound love. Nanette declares it romantically tragic but agrees to keep it a secret.
Gnomeo & Juliet premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood in January 2011, and was theatrically released in February by Entertainment One Films in the United Kingdom and Touchstone Pictures in the United States. The film grossed $193 million worldwide and received nominations for several Annie Awards. The song “Hello Hello” by Elton John and Lady Gaga was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.
