Directed by:  Andrzej Bartkowiak
Written by:  Mitchell Kapner, Eric Bernt, John Jarrell
Starring:  Jet Li, Delroy Lindo, Aaliyah, Isaiah Washington
 

March 27, 2000

         When I go see a kung-fu fighting movie, I expect there to be some awesome fight scenes.  In Jet Li’s new film, there are a total of six fight scenes.  That may seem like a lot, but they are few and far between for this one hour and fifty minute action flick.
         Not only are the fight scenes disappointing, the style is inconsistent and imitated.  Bartkowiak (director) uses slow motion for no reason.  Han (Li) walks from the airport in slow motion, why?  Then when he uses it in a fight scene near the end, it doesn’t work because he hasn’t used it before in the fight scenes. 
        Aside from that, he stole the idea of showing the inside of the body during an action scene right from David O’Russell, used in last year’s Three Kings.  He also makes the mistake seen too often in Schwartzenegger movies of adding too much comedy into the fight scenes.  Romeo Must Die can’t decide if it’s a serious John Woo action movie, or a comedic Jackie Chan kung-fu flick.
         Initially, Romeo Must Die was supposed to be a take on Romeo and Juliet.  Here, the Black Mafia goes to war with the Chinese Mafia.  It follows the storyline some, but makes some major changes.  For instance, instead of them dying at the end, the families die.  But the film sways away from the romance.  Han and Trish (Aaliyah) flirt with each other, but that’s as far as it goes.  How can you have a Romeo and Juliet movie with no romance?  Were the filmmakers afraid of the race issue?  Come on, I thought we were past that, why not take some chances?
         Romeo Must Die fails as a kung-fu film and fails as a romance.  I’m sorry to see both Delroy Lindo and Isaiah Washington waste their talents in a film like this.  Jet Li, on the other hand, is not the next Jackie Chan.  At least Chan makes me laugh, only if his films are only good enough to watch once.
 

Alternative Recommendations:  Hard Boiled, The Killer (both d: John Woo)

-Reviewed in Theater-

Nominated for
6 Fidelio Film Awards

Winner of
1 Fidelio Film Award