Cast: Jet Li, Aaliyah, Delroy Lindo, Isaiah Washington, Russell Wong, DMX
Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak
Cast: Jet Li, Aaliyah, Delroy Lindo, Isaiah Washington, Russell Wong, DMX
Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak
War
erupts between Oakland's rival African-American and Asian-American
crime families when the son of an Asian kingpin is found dead after
crashing a Black club. Han Sing, brother of the deceased, escapes
from his Hong Kong prison and travels to America to find his killer,
and finds himself fighting for survival between power-hungry
high-rollers. Gaining assistance from the daughter of a Black
gangster, he sets his sights on getting to the bottom of things if he
can survive long enough.
This is Jet
Li's first starring vehicle in a US production, and it shows off his
formidable fighting talents and innocent charm far better than in his
American debut, LETHAL WEAPON 4. The plot and title stem from
some similarities to the fameous Shakespeare play,
ROMEO AND JULIET, but outside of the novelty of two
opposite sex protagonists from warring families the similarities end
right there. Polish cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak, who also
worked with Li on LETHAL WEAPON 4, makes an impressive
debut as a director. The movie as a whole suffers from too much "been
there, done that" storyline and from being about a half hour too
long. Despite these relatively minor flaws,
ROMEO MUST DIE does feature some very impressive
acting, including terrific debut performances by R&B singer
Aaliyah and rapper DMX. The action is less spectacular than Li's Hong
Kong films, but should be enough to please his fans, and production
is solid all-around. Despite not being fresh enough to rave madly
over, this is still worthy of a viewing for action fans and should
provide a new fanbase for Li here in the States.
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