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Starring
:
Jet
Li
Aaliyah
Isaiah
Washington
Russell
Wong
DMX
Delroy
Lindo
Action
:
Yuen
Kwai
Producer
:
Joel
Silver
Jin
Wan Wyck
Director
:
Andrzej
Bartkwiak
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ROMEO
MUST DIE (2000)
Reviewed
by Phil Mills
In
Oakland, San Francisco the streets are ruled by two rival
gangs - the Chinese and the American Mafia. When the son
of the Chinese boss is brutally murdered, old wounds start to
flare up. Han Sing (Jet Li), the brother of the murdered
man, is currently serving time in a Hong Kong jail but when he
hears the terrible news he escapes and takes up the trail of
the killers. Arriving in San Francisco, Han accidentally
runs into Trish O'Day (Aaliyah) and their is an instant
attraction. Unbeknownst to him though, she is the
daughter of the leader of the American Mafia who Han believes
to be the men behind his brother's murder. Han and Trish
decide to team up to find the real men behind the violence and
attempt to unite the two families in peace.
Loosely
based on Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Romeo Must Die'
was Jet Li's first starring role after he appeared on the
Hollywood scene in 'Lethal Weapon 4'. The premise of
combining a classic love story with kung fu shows potential
and with the right handling of the concept could easily have
proved to be a winner but sadly the film never really manages
to settle on a specific area of expertise. As such, it
flirts with the idea of being an all out action movie whilst
attempting to explore a love story but the lack of depth in
the characters (particularly the lesser ones) and shallow
script leave it lingering somewhere in no man's land.
The
fights in 'Romeo Must Die' can be summed up using one common
expression in the industry - Wire-Fu. This is a form of
combining martial arts moves with wires to enhance the action
sequences and is a favoured by action choreographer Yuen Kwai.
When used in moderation it can be extremely successful but
sadly it's use here borders on the extreme and you have to
wonder why Jet's natural talents are so blatantly ignored.
In numerous scenes it is easily possible to notice that a manoeuvre
is being performed by an actor holding onto wires, so much so
that his hands remain in the gripping position. This
aside though, there are still some decent fights to be found
here which is normally the case when Jet is involved.
His Wu Shu stances and forms are second to none and it's nice
that he doesn't get too restricted by the stereotypical
Hollywood style of action so fans should still take note of
'Romeo Must Die'.
Even
with the obvious criticisms, 'Romeo Must Die' still earns
itself three stars because next to the competition it has to
get extra marks for attempting something new combined with the
Hong Kong style of action (even if it is taken a little too
far here). Jet fans should be sure to pick it up and
casual viewers will no doubt enjoy the action so it remains a
worthwhile purchase.
Rating:
 
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