What is the ruling on watching romantic movies that contain inappropriate scenes, with the claim of merely watching and not intending to imitate?

Watching vices is forbidden by Islamic law, even if it does not lead to committing them or inclining towards them. This is because merely looking at or listening to what is forbidden is prohibited in Islam, based on His (Allah's) saying: "Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts," and "Indeed, the hearing, the sight, and the heart - about all those [one] will be questioned."