Movies and music

Recently I saw Shadow Force and Juliet & Romeo in theaters, and I liked them both.

Shadow Force is an action adventure starring Omar Sy and Kerry Washington as two assassins trying to protect their 5-year old son Ky. Their ex-boss has a vendetta and is hiring their former Shadow Force colleagues to kill the whole family, who have been separated and in hiding for years. I didn't follow the whole plot with Mark Strong's villain facing scandal and investigation; I just waved it off as similar to Valentina getting impeached in Marvel's Thunderbolts* and wanting to destroy evidence of her crimes. Omar Sy is as charming and French as ever; I really love him as a leading man and want him to star in more stuff. Kerry Washington is good as the mother, and they also have friends Auntie and Unc played by Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Method Man. Amid all the danger and gunfire, there are very cute scenes with the son Ky connecting with his parents and singing Lionel Richie songs. There's also Chekov's song where they use "Truly" so much that you know it's going to become the soundtrack to a fight scene. When it happens, it's great. Very fun film.

Meanwhile Juliet & Romeo is a pop-song adaptation of the old story. It doesn't follow Shakespeare's play or dialogue, but rather it imagines the history that Shakespeare based his story on centuries later. It plays with the difference between legend and what may have really happened. We see Verona in 1301 during some kind of dispute between Rome and the apparently evil Pope, where both sides are trying to take over Verona. So the Capulets and Montagues are fighting over who will ally with the Prince. The cast list is impressive, including Derek Jacobi as the Friar, Rupert Graves as Prince Escalus, and Rebel Wilson as Lady Capulet. I also like the colorblind casting, showing that medieval history is diverse, especially in cosmopolitan cities. They also add some other characters such as Rosaline being Juliet's friend, and Mercutio having a girlfriend; he's also been adopted by Lord Montague after his parents died, so that he and Romeo can be more "brothers" of a sort. Anyway, the apothecary is secretly Jewish and makes his potions to help smuggle his Jewish compatriots out of Verona away from religious persecution. I liked all these touches, and the songs and dances were nicely choreographed, though I couldn't make out all the lyrics. I did get confused between some of the male Montague characters whose names I didn't know, though.