ROMEO MUST DIE is the story of fathers and sons, of the importance of blood, of star-crossed lovers willing to risk their lives for their love. Two warring families, one Chinese, one African American, are fighting for control of the Oakland waterfront. It's an eye for an eye as members of each gang keep turning up dead--.. Read more
| Starring | Jet Li, Isaiah Washington, Russell Wong, Delroy Lindo |
|---|---|
| Director | Andrzej Bartkowiak |
| Genres | Action/Adventure |
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ROMEO MUST DIE is the story of fathers and sons, of the importance of blood, of star-crossed lovers willing to risk their lives for their love. Two warring families, one Chinese, one African American, are fighting for control of the Oakland waterfront. It's an eye for an eye as members of each gang keep turning up dead--including the son of Ch'u Sing, the Chinese gang leader, which escalates the war to epic proportions. Into this fray comes Han Sing (Jet Li), Ch'u's other son, a cop who has escaped from a Hong Kong prison where he was serving time for not arresting his father and brother. Han soon becomes a little too friendly with Trish O'Day (Aaliyah), the daughter of Isaak O'Day (Delroy Lindo), the leader of the African American gang. The growing romance between Han and Trish parallels the growing body count.
ROMEO MUST DIE is a fast-paced, hip-hop retelling of the classic Shakespeare tale. A thumping soundtrack and wicked special effects--including martial arts battles in which the fighters virtually fly through the air--add to the excitement. Jet Li and Aaliyah turn in fine performances laced with just the right amount of comedy. Director Andrzej Bartkowiak has a keen visual sense--he previously served as cinematographer on such films as THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE, SPECIES, and SPEED--that pumps up such standard fare as car chases, prison breaks, and even a pickup football game. The film includes an awesome special effect that reveals a person's skeleton as he dies--it has to be seen to be believed.
| Starring | Jet Li, Isaiah Washington, Russell Wong, Delroy Lindo, Aaliyah, Tong Lung, Francoise Yip, DMX, Anthony Anderson, Edoardo Ballerini, DB Woodside |
|---|---|
| Director | Andrzej Bartkowiak |
| Studio | WARNER HOME VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 50 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Action/Adventure |
| Language | English |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | Arabic, Bulgarian, English, Romanian |
| Released | DVD: 09 Apr 2001 Production year: 2000 |
| Format | DVD |
Jet Li takes his first starring role in a US movie, as an ex-cop convict from Hong Kong who flees to America to avenge the death of his brother and gets entangled in a mob war. During his investigation, he continually mixes with the daughter (played by singer Aaliyah) of the rival gang's head thug, yet the film-makers are too cowardly to take the interracial relationship beyond mere friendliness. Even for an American movie, the martial arts sequences are very badly choreographed, and there is far more hip-hop music and lingo than either plot or action. Anthony Anderson provides some welcome comic relief as a dim-witted henchman.
"...A style-drenched, kick-butt, music-fueled, Kung hop actioner that assiduously devotes itself to devising the most dazzling and inventive martial arts sequences..."
Upon first viewing of this I was disapointed because I made the mistake of comparing it to Jet Li's Hong Kong movies, but when I watched this again, knowing what to expect, I really enjoyed it, and the fights were actually quite good. The wire work was done quite well for most of the fights and the cgi effects were good too. There are lots of funny moments and Jet doesn't make me cringe like he first did when he atempts to use American slang. Definately worth a second view if you have already seen it once.
This might have been a good movie if I had been able to see more of it. The disc I received
looked like someone had been eating kippers off the playing surface.
Smallville's Kristin Kreuk, The Green Mile's Michael Clarke Duncan and American Pie alum Chris Klein are among the stars signed up to do battle in a new live action adaptation of the video game Street Fighter II, according to reports. Variety says they will be joined by former Bond villain Rick Yune (Die Another Day) and fantastically monikered Moon Bloodgood of TV series Journeyman for the high-octane beat-em-up fun. According to the paper, Romeo Must Die director Andrzej Bartkowiak will be... Read more