"Romeo Must Die" is being touted as the American breakthrough for Hong Kong action superstar Jet Li. Li should have stayed in Hong Kong and saved himself the trouble.
Produced by the notorious Hollywood shlockmeister Joel Silver, "Romeo Must Die" is just one more reminder of how hopeless American action film-making has become.
Director Bartkowiak is a career cinematographer who has worked on a few good movies ("Prizzi's Honor") and a lot of mediocre ones ("U.S. Marshals", "Lethal Weapon 4".)
"Romeo Must Die" is his first outing as a director, and while he's obviously been studying John Woo flicks, he just doesn't have the magic touch. He knows how to make things look pretty, but the pacing is downright leaden. He puts the climactic multi-gun standoff at the beginning of the movie, where it's totally wasted, and the energy starts inexorably dribbling away after that.
Add to that a pedestrian script filled with inane banter, cultural stereotypes and a tepid romantic subplot, and you have yet another pile of Hollywood cliches looking for a movie.
"Romeo Must Die" is set in the middle of a battle between black and Asian gangs in Oakland. Po Sing, the son of Asian crime boss Ch'u Sing (Henry O), is found hanging from a streetlight after getting thrown out of a black nightclub the night before. Word gets back to his older brother Han, a former police officer serving a prison sentence in Hong Kong. Han effects a daring escape, fighting off a collection of guards while hog-tied in a prison "beating-room" and walks out in a stolen guard uniform.
Meanwhile, back in Oakland, the black boss, Isaak O'Day (Delroy Lindo) is trying to go legit by investing in a plan to build a new stadium in Oakland. O'Day's daughter Trish (singer Aaliyah) is trying to carve out her own career. She has a funky boutique that apparently requires minimal supervision, since she first meets Han when she takes off on a midday record-store trip and ditches her buffoonish bodyguard.
The stakes begin to rise when Trish's brother Colin is murdered too. Han and Trish bond over their losses and get caught in the middle of the gang war.
A lot of talent is being wasted here. Lindo brings what depth he can to a one-dimensional role, and Russell Wong ("The Joy Luck Club"), who plays the Sing family enforcer Kai, deserves a much better part than the one he got, which consists mainly of striding around wearing sunglasses and slicked-back hair, and looking like Chow Yun-fat.
Li, however, is starting to look old and tired. His English dialogue (such as it is) sounds convincing enough, and his natural charisma still comes through in his scenes, but he can't carry the movie alone.
Also, one expects a certain number of plot holes in an action movie, but "Romeo Must Die" really pushes it. Han is a prison escapee but has no trouble getting out of Hong Kong and into the U.S., and his father appears quite surprised to see him when he turns up.
As for the romance, Li and Aaliyah look cute together but have zero chemistry -- they don't even get a clinch at the end, only a chaste hug.
"Romeo Must Die" does have its moments: there's a terrific sequence in which Li fights off a gang of O'Day thugs with a fire hose, and a very funny fight scene involving both Li and Aaliyah, with a cameo by Hong Kong action star Francoise Yip.
But even the best efforts of the visual effects team from "The Matrix" can't fix the movie's fundamental flaws. If you want to see Li in his prime, track down the videos of "Fist Of Legend" or the "Once Upon A Time In China" series. But do not encourage Joel Silver to make more action movies with Li or anyone else.
Please.
(This film is rated AA)
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