Almost 30 years ago, two Shakespeare adaptations released only months apart from each other, both capturing a distinctly ’90s vibe at opposite ends of the spectrum. Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet appealed to mainstream tastes, while Troma’s Tromeo and Juliet delivered a much wilder adaptation that only Troma could. Tromeo and Juliet checks off the usual transgressive […]
Director Lloyd Kaufman wound up hiring James Gunn to rewrite Tromeo and Juliet after a few failed attempts to crack it. Fresh off earning his MFA from Columbia University, Gunn took the gig for only $150. It marked the start of his work at Troma, and in hindsight it’s easy to see how it helped develop his sense of style and humor.
Most adaptations of Romeo & Juliet faithfully adhere to the tragedy’s ending, with crossed wires leading to the suicides of the young lovers, finally prompting a resolution between families. Gunn and Kaufman’s take offers a far more uplifting course correction, with the young lovers bucking the oppressive patriarch to blame and choosing to ride off into the sunset together. Granted, the final Troma hook reveals that the lovers are related, but not even incest can stop their undying love for each other.
Sure, Juliet may turn into a cow beast, and the jokes and violence get dialed up to intentionally offensive levels, but the sweet romance brings balance. Tromeo and Juliet both have a naivete that engenders them to the viewer well, and it keeps them floating above the meaner aspects of the story that come in large part from the villainous Cappy Capulet (Maximillian Shaun).
This particular component of innocence as a beacon in an oft-cruel, violent world runs through James Gunn’s output, becoming more fine-tuned with every new film. It’s incorruptible love that adds poignancy to the slimy, delightfully gross SLiTHER. Frank Darbo’s (Rainn Wilson) winsome obtuseness allows his violent vigilantism to still make him the protagonist in Super. It’s why audiences fell hard for the misfit characters in Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy features, and why they’ve connected with The Suicide Squad and now Superman as well.
James Gunn cuts straight to the humanity of characters often deemed inhumane or irredeemable. That contrast is inherently humorous but more potent is its charm. Guardians‘ Yondu (Michael Rooker), for example, might be a ruthless and practical-minded criminal that dabbled in child trafficking, but audiences still fell hard when he proudly declared, “I’m Mary Poppins, y’all!” Gunn leans into the absurd and embraces it hard in Guardians and his other films, ushering forth wildly engaging scenarios full of characters we fall for, despite themselves.
It’s easy to look back at his very first film credit and see where it all began, with a pair of plucky youths falling in love and overcoming the zaniest odds to stay together.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on August 2, 2021.
Troma returns to the big screen with The Toxic Avenger only in theaters on August 29!