Everyone knows the classic tale of the star-crossed lovers “Romeo and Juliet,” a forbidden love that ends in tragedy. The play written by William Shakespeare hundreds of years ago is still read today and is as popular as it was centuries ago.

It isn’t surprising that several movies have been made to appeal to new generations. The most recent is “Romeo and Juliet” starring Hailee Steinfeld as the lovely Juliet and Douglas Booth as the dashing Romeo.

This new adaptation of the original is, by far, the best. It is heart wrenching with beautiful acting, sets, costumes, direction and everything else that is needed to make a powerful film.

There are several advantages the new flick has to the Franco Zeffirelli original, including increased technological effects, making it a more believable show. Compared to the 1996 teen drama, most chiefly recognized as “the one with Leonardo DiCaprio,” it is a significantly better. Because the late 20^th century adaption was modernized, it seemed ridiculous with people participating in gunfights and drug abuse while speaking the original words of Shakespeare. The recent “Romeo and Juliet” is beautiful to watch and easy to enjoy, while the Baz Luhrmann interpretation is difficult to follow and hard to understand.

This new adaptation of the original star-crossed lovers is an amazing film on its own without comparing it to previous adaptations. It reminds everyone how sad the story truly is. Halfway through the movie, there was hope that maybe the adaptation went with a cheerier ending and doom was not brought on, but sadly that was not the case. As the ending came about and the deaths of the characters we knew will occur, happened, gasps throughout the theater were heard, regardless of knowledge of the end.

This “Romeo and Juliet” is a must see for anyone who loves romantic dramas.

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