396 reviews
ROMEO MUST DIE is one of those rare films which, while not particularly good for its genre, is surprisingly good for other reasons. Most of the black characters, even the villians, are sympathetically portrayed, even though the hero is Asian. Aaliyah is wholesomely sexy and quite beautiful. Russell Wong is phenomenal is a very short role. This guy has the looks, style, and presence of Russell Crowe. Jet Li, however, is very humane and appealing, though his character is underwritten. Most of the asian characters are shortchanged dramatically. However the white (primarily Jewish) characters are shortchanged the most. They receive the brunt of the ugly stereotyping. The kung-fu sequences are nothing special. They are too fast and too confusing to be completely effective. Though neat, the Xray effect detracted from the "realism," sort of like the old split screen and slo-mo effects of the 1960s films. Bone-crunching is far more effective; and, would someone please dispense with this "flying" nonsense? I don't want to see anything up there or the screen that is not physically possible. Special note must be made of Francoise Yip, the Female bike / fighter. If Ms. Yip did all her own stunts, she's not only stunningly beautiful, she is also awesome. One quibble, which I feel follows a disturbing pattern in motion pictures. Though Jet Li and Aaliyah are quite obviously in love at the close of the film, they never kiss. In a film which shows two beautiful asian dances french kiss, and one bares the other's breast and kisses her erect nipple,would it have been too much to ask to have to people of different races who are obviously in love share a romantic kiss?
Let me start by saying I adore the late Aaliyah. For her first role, she did a pretty good job. She played the part well and this part was made for her. However, I enjoyed the soundtrack more than the movie itself. Not saying it was a horrible movie, it was just OK. I wish the fight scenes were more authentic. You could tell they were choreographed. When I watch a movie like this, I want it to look like people are really fighting each other. I also felt that Jet Li and Aaliyah lacked in the chemistry department. Sure, they look good together as friends and/or partners in crime, but nothing more and I mean nothing. Anything beyond that seemed forced. I actually felt the entire cast lacked in chemistry. There were a couple of twists that were unexpected and the plot was OK, but nothing to really knock your socks off. It is entertaining if nothing else is on TV, or if you just want to watch the beautiful Aaliyah in action. For me, it is a bit nostalgic for that reason. Also, I was still a teenager when this came out and this was the movie to watch at that time. Again, not the worst movie, but not the best. I will admit that I have probably watched this at least 5 times. Sometimes, I just can't say no because although it is not perfect, it is still entertaining.
Romeo Must Die is the 1st and in my opinion, the better of the two hip hop/martial arts action films directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak. The movie is pretty nicely shot and slick looking and actually is really well performed by the cast. The plot is loosely based off Romeo And Juliet, but don't expect anything artsy fartsy, this is an action movie with two warring crime families(one Chinese and the other African American). Aalyah is beautiful and gives a fine performance as love interest for Jet Li. Delroy Lindo and Issiah Washington give pretty solid performances as well. Russell Wong is a cool villain and comic relief Anthony Anderson is actually funny. My problem with the movie is the crazy wire fu sequences don't really work as well here as it would in Jet Li's movies from Hong Kong. I don't think Corey Yuen's fight choreography is bad, it just is out of place and not really suited for this movie. Thankfully DMX only has a cameo here, he was top billed in the other Andrzej Bartkowiak/Jet Li collaboration Cradle 2 The Grave and he was terrible in that movie. Overall, this is a pretty decent action movie that introduced Jet Li to new audiences, but I prefer his work in China/Hong Kong to his action movies made in the United States and Europe.
- dworldeater
- Aug 19, 2019
- Permalink
"Romeo Must Die" is definetely the most violent "interpretation" of Shakespeare I`ve ever seen. Okay, interpretation is not the right word to use, but that is nevertheless what this movie at some point wants to be. I really liked Jet Li in this movie, and I`ve liked him since I first saw him in "Lethal Weapon 4" a couple of years ago. Fighting and betrayal is what "Romeo Must Die" is all about, and the fighting is very entertaining, although sometimes a bit cheesy, because some of the "Matrix-scenes", which is out of place outside the world of science-fiction. Still, "Romeo Must Die" is an actionflick you wouldn`t want to miss. It manages to be interesting enough, but the fighting is what makes it really good. 8/10
There seems to be several films in this one. A story about corruption and property deals, a story about fathers and their children, a tentative Romeo and Juliet romance and of course martial arts and guns. The actors acquit themselves well. One hoped for more of Michael Wong and less of Anthony Anderson (his constant 'Dim Sum' refrain being quite irritating) but the actors act, the plot moves and the film is enjoyable enough.
Jet Li is as usual very watchable and apart from his skill at martial arts (quick and effective but always graceful) he acts OK. His cab scene with Aaliyah is charming and funny and one wanted more of that but their relationship is underdeveloped in the script. It is a pity as Aaliyah is luminous and sassy. Her untimely death in real life was a tragedy.
Not as good as 'Kiss of the Dragon' but better than 'The One' and 'Cradle 2 the Grave' but inferior to Jet Li's Hong Kong movies.
Jet Li is as usual very watchable and apart from his skill at martial arts (quick and effective but always graceful) he acts OK. His cab scene with Aaliyah is charming and funny and one wanted more of that but their relationship is underdeveloped in the script. It is a pity as Aaliyah is luminous and sassy. Her untimely death in real life was a tragedy.
Not as good as 'Kiss of the Dragon' but better than 'The One' and 'Cradle 2 the Grave' but inferior to Jet Li's Hong Kong movies.
- henry-girling
- Jun 19, 2003
- Permalink
3 February 2015. There is plenty of action in this martial arts movie along with a convoluted plot that plays out in a mirror-image of Lucky Number Slevin (2006) with Josh Harnett. The cultural Asian and Black atmosphere is rich with suspicion and the raw performances are steeped in dramatic flare. The actual martial art fighting, though seemed a bit overly manipulated and artificial, even considering the more artistic display of Crouching Tiger, Flying Dragon (2000) or the more sharp and crisp physical encounters found in Bourne Identity (2002). What makes for the above average score of this movie is Jet Li and his persona and substantive nature of the storyline.
The good of this movie was when Aaliyah was on the scene. The rest was rather senseless violence about gangs trying to out do each other. Jet Li was okay, but I don't think he's a good actor although he 's a very prolific one starring in over 60 movies. Although this was her acting debut, I think Aaliyah brought the goods to the table. She was just great as Trish. The play between Trish and Han (Jet Li) as an accidental cab driver was priceless, and the way they contrasted each other on screen with younger Trish actually in somewhat of a protective role to Han really added interesting plot twist to the story. Executive producer Joel Silver had lots of original ideas about movie making, and this one I would say is one of them. I don't go too much for the violence, but the movie was entertaining and original.
I must say right off the bat that I was very disappointed with this movie. Jet Li is one of the most amazing fighters to ever hit the silver screen, with credentials (in martial arts, not acting) that rival the late great Bruce Lee and easily surpass Jackie Chan. He can do things with his body that I can't even do in my dreams.
Having said that, I sat through this movie wondering to myself, "Why did they feel the need to CGI enhance these fight scenes?" He can do amazing things by himself! By inexplicably making him jump 30 feet in the air while kicking in 9 directions at once, they serve only to discredit his true athletic ability. And not only did they meddle with his fighting talent, but they did it so poorly. The tampered scenes are very obvious, with more visible seams than a tailor shop. Granted, the x-ray effects were a welcome change, but that was about all this movie had to offer in terms of fresh ideas.
The plot is drawn out at great lengths, with fight scenes a little too few and far between for my tastes. Also, I felt the black gangsters were over-developed, while the asian gangsters were under-developed (Russell Wong's character is barely on the screen for 10 minutes of the movie, while Isiah Washington's incessant melodrama drowns out a good portion of the flick).
I think most of the problem comes from the over-ambitious screenplay. The premise is a good one: asian mafia versus black gangsters. However, there are two roads this premise could have taken. Either A) they could have turned it into a hardcore action pic about gang violence, with lots of guns, fighting, double crossing, etc., or B) they could have made a romantic tragedy focusing on the struggles between the two lovers because of their opposite backgrounds. This movie strives desperately to do both, but the end result is that neither aspect is fully explored, leaving a mediocre-at-best storyline for the cast to work with.
So, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd have to give this movie about a 4. It had a lot of promise, and I was hoping to see Jet Li showcased to his full potential, but it appears that his ship has yet to come.
Having said that, I sat through this movie wondering to myself, "Why did they feel the need to CGI enhance these fight scenes?" He can do amazing things by himself! By inexplicably making him jump 30 feet in the air while kicking in 9 directions at once, they serve only to discredit his true athletic ability. And not only did they meddle with his fighting talent, but they did it so poorly. The tampered scenes are very obvious, with more visible seams than a tailor shop. Granted, the x-ray effects were a welcome change, but that was about all this movie had to offer in terms of fresh ideas.
The plot is drawn out at great lengths, with fight scenes a little too few and far between for my tastes. Also, I felt the black gangsters were over-developed, while the asian gangsters were under-developed (Russell Wong's character is barely on the screen for 10 minutes of the movie, while Isiah Washington's incessant melodrama drowns out a good portion of the flick).
I think most of the problem comes from the over-ambitious screenplay. The premise is a good one: asian mafia versus black gangsters. However, there are two roads this premise could have taken. Either A) they could have turned it into a hardcore action pic about gang violence, with lots of guns, fighting, double crossing, etc., or B) they could have made a romantic tragedy focusing on the struggles between the two lovers because of their opposite backgrounds. This movie strives desperately to do both, but the end result is that neither aspect is fully explored, leaving a mediocre-at-best storyline for the cast to work with.
So, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd have to give this movie about a 4. It had a lot of promise, and I was hoping to see Jet Li showcased to his full potential, but it appears that his ship has yet to come.
This is an average movie. However story is interesting but presentation is not. Jet Li with DMX and Anderson with Delroy Lindo and Russel Wong. The cast is impressive but use of them is not proper. Some fight sequences are good and of course with Jet Li. The main attraction is Trisha (Aaliyah). She steals the show with his sober looks and good acting. When I searching her other movies on IMDB then found that unfortunately she is no more. Very sad news. Here about movie's climax is predictable and we feel more dramatic than real. The weak side. Overall movie is watchable at once for Aaliyah's good acting and Jet Li's fights.
- saptesh786
- Dec 25, 2019
- Permalink
Have you ever felt cheated because you never got to see a movie before that includes X-ray POV footage of a person's spine being severed, a football game that turns into a Three Stooges episode, a part where a Chinese crime lord has his colleagues chained up in a refrigerated boxcar before they're murdered and dismembered with meat-cutting instruments (thankfully off-camera), and mentions that the Oakland Raiders moved again? Fear not, once you see ROMEO MUST DIE.
There isn't much else to say about how this movie's tone jumps all over the place. It's a predictable but decently engaging movie. What makes it worth renting is the presence of Aaliyah, Jet Li, and especially Delroy Lindo. There's little doubt this movie did well off the marquee value of those first two--and they're both good here, separately and together--but Lindo is a great actor and invests Isaak O'Day with a dramatic presence that insists we take him seriously.
It's a huge tragedy that Aaliyah died so young, and a great loss for the movies she would have been superb in; she saves her thin, poorly developed character from being useless and makes Trish interesting. Jet Li shows he can be tough or funny, whatever's needed at the moment, and it's nice to see an action star who seems to LIKE doing action film roles. Note: I have to agree with Roger Ebert that seeing Li doing FX-aided fight scenes was pathetic; Li's a fighting FX just by being himself, and we saw that in LETHAL WEAPON 4 and hopefully will again in the future.
For all that, this and GONE IN 60 SECONDS were the quintissential average films of 2000. As far from great as awful, both got 5 out of 10 from me.
There isn't much else to say about how this movie's tone jumps all over the place. It's a predictable but decently engaging movie. What makes it worth renting is the presence of Aaliyah, Jet Li, and especially Delroy Lindo. There's little doubt this movie did well off the marquee value of those first two--and they're both good here, separately and together--but Lindo is a great actor and invests Isaak O'Day with a dramatic presence that insists we take him seriously.
It's a huge tragedy that Aaliyah died so young, and a great loss for the movies she would have been superb in; she saves her thin, poorly developed character from being useless and makes Trish interesting. Jet Li shows he can be tough or funny, whatever's needed at the moment, and it's nice to see an action star who seems to LIKE doing action film roles. Note: I have to agree with Roger Ebert that seeing Li doing FX-aided fight scenes was pathetic; Li's a fighting FX just by being himself, and we saw that in LETHAL WEAPON 4 and hopefully will again in the future.
For all that, this and GONE IN 60 SECONDS were the quintissential average films of 2000. As far from great as awful, both got 5 out of 10 from me.
It was four years ago on August 25 that Aaliyah was tragically taken from us and the life of another great musical talent cut short. I decided to watch Romeo Must Die with Jet Li in her memory as it has a lot of her music(Come Back in One Piece", "I Don't Wanna", "Try Again" and "Are You Feelin' Me?"), and it is one great movie that I watch over and over again. DMX was also in the movie and he joined Jet Li again in Cradle 2the Grave , another movie with great action and great music. Thanks, Aaliyah, for the music you gave us.I never get tired of watching Jet Li in action and look forward to many more movies with him.
- lastliberal
- Sep 24, 2005
- Permalink
Romeo Must Die is a passable action movie with thrills, chills , romance and nail-biting action scenes . Well-paced action film with two-fisted Jet Li is just another action film full of struggles , thriller , noise and lots of violence with overwhelming and breathtaking set pieces . In this modern day and loosely adaptation based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, in which Jet Li plays Romeo , while hip-hop singer, Aaliyah Haughton results to be Juliet. This is an impressive movie action film with nice protagonists , such as : kung fu action star Jet Li , Aaliyah, Delroy Lindo , Anthony Anderson, Russell Wong , Henry O , DMX and Isaiah Washington Jr .Elaborately produced by Joel Silver with two-fisted Jet Li , it's just another action film full of struggles , thrills, noisy action , crashes and lots of violence . Jet Li as almost always , playing a stalwart and loner fighter eliminating enemies of incredible manners , as he delivers the goods in his own style full of usual violence and fights with snapping wrists and worth it just to see Jet Li in action . Li is an ex-cop who unjustly locked , breaks out of a Chinese prison and gets to the Oakland-San Francisco waterfront , America , to discover his brother's killer and avenge his death. The investigating about the grisly killing of his brother, who had ties with the Chinese mafia in America lead him to unexpected , unpredictable consequences . Aaliyah plays the wealthy daughter of a poweful American mob boss -Delroy Lindo- . Neither side approves of their romance. Shortly after , he encounters a cobweb of corruption and betrayal .In A World Of Vicious Rivalries And Violent Betrayals Only One Thing Is Sure. The Word On The Street Is... This Is Gonna Hurt. In the city ruled by criminals, two families have forgotten their fear. He will make them remember.
In the movie there is action , struggles of Kung Fu style , pursuits , a little of comedy courtesy of Anthony Anderson and packs a lot of bemusement . Violent and not particularly literary but worthy entry in action genre and realized in modern action genre style , including fights in the wake of Matrix . Jet Li plays the violent Han Sing , he makes peace , falls in love for Aaliyah and cleans up the city by means of punches , kicks and leaps by using abundant martial arts with fights certainly slick . Jet Li delivers the goods in his own style full of usual violence and fights with snapping wrists and worth it just to see Li in action . Performances are middling but it's an action film where important are the quarrels and the pursuits . He picture was made in the Jet Li's best period when he played high budget movies such as The Forbidden Kingdom , The warlords , War , Kiss of the Dragon , Hero, Fearless , Lethal Weapon III , Danny the Dog , among others . Nowadays ,he does fairly low standards, and lesser budget movies . Co-stars the recently deceased DMX who performed three nice action films : Romeo must die , Exit Wounds and Cradle 2 The Grave along with Seagal , Jet Li and Anthony Anderson. Cradle 2 the grave is not only the 2nd film to star DMX, Jet Li, and Anthony Anderson together , it is the first film where all three of them share screen time with each other . All three of them starred in Romeo Must Die . Support cast is pretty good , such as : Isaiah Washington , Anthony Anderson , D. B. Woodside , Henry O, Jon Kit Lee, Edoardo Ballerini, Matthew Harrison , among others . Here stands out Anthony Anderson who interprets a humorous and sympathetic role .
It contains a colorful and evocative cinematography by Glen MacPherson . As well as a thrilling and stirring musical score by Stanley Clarke , including Hip-Hop songs by Aaliyah herself . The motion picture was regular but professionally directed by Andrzej Bartowiak . This filmmaker as member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) is considered to be one of the best cameramen and occassionaly has directed some movies . Breakthrough film was his work as a cameraman on the gritty urban thriller Prince of City (1981) , his first collaboration with Sidney Lumet. Bartkowiak worked on the director's next 11 films over the next 12 years. Bartkowiak became much in demand after his taut camera work in Speed (1994) and has worked twice for Barbra Streisand in Nuts (1987) and The mirror has two faces (1996) . Rating Exit Wounds(2001) : 5.5/10 , mediocre but entertaining . Acceptable and passable.
In the movie there is action , struggles of Kung Fu style , pursuits , a little of comedy courtesy of Anthony Anderson and packs a lot of bemusement . Violent and not particularly literary but worthy entry in action genre and realized in modern action genre style , including fights in the wake of Matrix . Jet Li plays the violent Han Sing , he makes peace , falls in love for Aaliyah and cleans up the city by means of punches , kicks and leaps by using abundant martial arts with fights certainly slick . Jet Li delivers the goods in his own style full of usual violence and fights with snapping wrists and worth it just to see Li in action . Performances are middling but it's an action film where important are the quarrels and the pursuits . He picture was made in the Jet Li's best period when he played high budget movies such as The Forbidden Kingdom , The warlords , War , Kiss of the Dragon , Hero, Fearless , Lethal Weapon III , Danny the Dog , among others . Nowadays ,he does fairly low standards, and lesser budget movies . Co-stars the recently deceased DMX who performed three nice action films : Romeo must die , Exit Wounds and Cradle 2 The Grave along with Seagal , Jet Li and Anthony Anderson. Cradle 2 the grave is not only the 2nd film to star DMX, Jet Li, and Anthony Anderson together , it is the first film where all three of them share screen time with each other . All three of them starred in Romeo Must Die . Support cast is pretty good , such as : Isaiah Washington , Anthony Anderson , D. B. Woodside , Henry O, Jon Kit Lee, Edoardo Ballerini, Matthew Harrison , among others . Here stands out Anthony Anderson who interprets a humorous and sympathetic role .
It contains a colorful and evocative cinematography by Glen MacPherson . As well as a thrilling and stirring musical score by Stanley Clarke , including Hip-Hop songs by Aaliyah herself . The motion picture was regular but professionally directed by Andrzej Bartowiak . This filmmaker as member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) is considered to be one of the best cameramen and occassionaly has directed some movies . Breakthrough film was his work as a cameraman on the gritty urban thriller Prince of City (1981) , his first collaboration with Sidney Lumet. Bartkowiak worked on the director's next 11 films over the next 12 years. Bartkowiak became much in demand after his taut camera work in Speed (1994) and has worked twice for Barbra Streisand in Nuts (1987) and The mirror has two faces (1996) . Rating Exit Wounds(2001) : 5.5/10 , mediocre but entertaining . Acceptable and passable.
- userwithnoname
- Jan 21, 2007
- Permalink
Han Sing is being held in a Hong Kong prison when he learns of the death of his little brother and travels out to the San Francisco to find the killer. However what he finds is a supposed gang war between Chinese and Black businessmen looking to build a water front stadium. Han teams up with Trish to find the killers.
This was Jet Li's first big lead role in the US and unfortunately it's a disappointment. The story is OK but almost everything else is a letdown. First the fight scenes - where are they?! Jet Li is hugely talented but here he isn't allowed to shine - a lot of his scenes uses (very obvious) CGI, why? The CGI takes away from his own ability, put him on wires and make it look natural! Secondly, to keep the black audience, Li isn't allowed to fight any black character seriously (or kill any of them!) so most of his fights with Lindo's goons are handled for comedy effect. The only decent fights in the film are the one where Li uses Aaliyah as a weapon and of course the final showdown between Li and the Chinese lieutenant.
The second problem is that the film makers clearly didn't want to upset the black audience by having too many unsympathetic black characters in the film. For example all the Chinese mobsters are bad guys who get their fate, whereas Lindo leads the black gang but isn't a bad guy and only one of the black gang turns out to be bad, and any black person who gets killed only gets killed by another black person. This is part of the reason why Li's fights feel so muted - check out the `comedy' touch football or the fact that the fat black guy always seems to have a good line to deliver while being kicked.
This is a few steps away from the black-ploitation films of the 70's, where producers deliberately made films to get the black-dollar. I don't mind that if it creates good films. The black cast are good, Washington is good even when he's playing a cartoon character like here, Lindo is always good and even DMX is alright. The R n'B soundtrack is also great but the problem is that no one wants to upset the audience and the whole film feels like it's trying to be some sort of PC black movie. Hence the black gangsters are either comedy figures or are good people at heart, while the Chinese gangs are money grabbing murders. It also explains why Aaliyah and Li, despite having a romantic involvement, never get to kiss or anything else. I don't want to appear that this is a big deal, but to me this PC-ness ruined everything from the fights, the characters right down to the romance between Li and Aaliyah.
Li and Aaliyah are both good. Aaliyah is a surprise as I thought she'd just be another hiphop/Rn'B star making an ill-advised jump to films, but she was good. Lindo and Washington are as good as ever, but both are better than comic-book bad guy roles. The Chinese roles are never developed and only remain bad guys till the end. However the cast shouldn't matter - we should have been blown away by the action - just like in all Li's Hong Kong movies. Why did the producers get such a great martial arts actor only to waste his talents by having poor fights that rely on CGI?
Overall the film is just about enjoyable, but it's hard to watch it without seeing the wasted opportunities at every step.
This was Jet Li's first big lead role in the US and unfortunately it's a disappointment. The story is OK but almost everything else is a letdown. First the fight scenes - where are they?! Jet Li is hugely talented but here he isn't allowed to shine - a lot of his scenes uses (very obvious) CGI, why? The CGI takes away from his own ability, put him on wires and make it look natural! Secondly, to keep the black audience, Li isn't allowed to fight any black character seriously (or kill any of them!) so most of his fights with Lindo's goons are handled for comedy effect. The only decent fights in the film are the one where Li uses Aaliyah as a weapon and of course the final showdown between Li and the Chinese lieutenant.
The second problem is that the film makers clearly didn't want to upset the black audience by having too many unsympathetic black characters in the film. For example all the Chinese mobsters are bad guys who get their fate, whereas Lindo leads the black gang but isn't a bad guy and only one of the black gang turns out to be bad, and any black person who gets killed only gets killed by another black person. This is part of the reason why Li's fights feel so muted - check out the `comedy' touch football or the fact that the fat black guy always seems to have a good line to deliver while being kicked.
This is a few steps away from the black-ploitation films of the 70's, where producers deliberately made films to get the black-dollar. I don't mind that if it creates good films. The black cast are good, Washington is good even when he's playing a cartoon character like here, Lindo is always good and even DMX is alright. The R n'B soundtrack is also great but the problem is that no one wants to upset the audience and the whole film feels like it's trying to be some sort of PC black movie. Hence the black gangsters are either comedy figures or are good people at heart, while the Chinese gangs are money grabbing murders. It also explains why Aaliyah and Li, despite having a romantic involvement, never get to kiss or anything else. I don't want to appear that this is a big deal, but to me this PC-ness ruined everything from the fights, the characters right down to the romance between Li and Aaliyah.
Li and Aaliyah are both good. Aaliyah is a surprise as I thought she'd just be another hiphop/Rn'B star making an ill-advised jump to films, but she was good. Lindo and Washington are as good as ever, but both are better than comic-book bad guy roles. The Chinese roles are never developed and only remain bad guys till the end. However the cast shouldn't matter - we should have been blown away by the action - just like in all Li's Hong Kong movies. Why did the producers get such a great martial arts actor only to waste his talents by having poor fights that rely on CGI?
Overall the film is just about enjoyable, but it's hard to watch it without seeing the wasted opportunities at every step.
- bob the moo
- Feb 3, 2002
- Permalink
- cameronfitzgerald-74962
- Apr 21, 2020
- Permalink
This movie uses the "Gang" element from West Side Story, but puts a little twist on it. Jet Li provided the great action for the martial arts fans, Aaliyah showed what she's got for the Hip-Hop fans, and even Anthony Anderson was good for the comedy element as a wannabe gangster in training. The bad guys also lived up to their finest with Isaiah Washington and Russell Wong doing the dirty work. Overall, a good action movie that even the more intellectual will delight in.
- StantonDrew
- Nov 22, 2018
- Permalink
This is ANOTHER gang war film, this time Black vs.Chinese Its confusing at times, as most of the people are new to this reviewer Jet Li is the star & since he is a martial art expert, there are plenty of well staged & exciting choreographed fight scenes,Exciting chases,even a romance between him & a Black actress (not sure of her name) but she is quite good. Delroy Lindo as usual excells in his role as her father, I was
not too fond of the musics score, as the lyrics were hard to understand. over all I did like the movie & give it ***. It is good entertainment & well worth a rental or cable viewing
as always
jay harris
not too fond of the musics score, as the lyrics were hard to understand. over all I did like the movie & give it ***. It is good entertainment & well worth a rental or cable viewing
as always
jay harris
This film was terrible I hated it from beginning to end. I did try to like this film but I just couldn't like it. Jet Li was cool but the plot around him sucked. The plot was weak and distorted making the film hard to follow. The film was quite mindless but not in fun way and the dialogue was pitiful. The director of the film kept putting in rapmusic and all the rapmusic was terrible and quite painful to listen to at times. Jet Li does great martial arts stunts but computer tricks keep getting in the way, killing the effect of the stunts. If Jet Li wants to make another film in America he should direct it. The film is painfully slow at times making the film distorted and boring. Jet Li try but fails to save this film from being a dud. The film borrows the love story but nothing else from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. What was with showing the inside of the body during the fight scenes; that was just plain dumb. If your looking for an entertaining martial arts action film look somewhere else.
Not usually a fan of this type of all-out Action movie, "Romeo Must Die" knocked me off balance when I found it to be one of the best films I have ever enjoyed. Producer Joel Silver (Who also produced "The Matrix") describes the film as an "Urban rendition of Romeo and Juliet" and although this is a very simple way of looking at the film, it's not far off the mark. Like the great Shakespeare work, there are two opposing families in this film, each looking to make big commercial gains in the world of real estate development. Caught up in their lies, greed and violence are Trish O'Day (Played by Aaliyah) and Han Sing (Played by Jet Li). The story revolves around their quickly blooming relationship and the opposing families around them.
The film boasts some serious eye candy with some of the best special effects you'll see. Luckily, this is not the only good thing going for the movie as the eye candy is wonderfully supported by some fantastic performances from the cast. In her first feature movie, Aaliyah is absolutely breath taking as Trish O'Day. Showing the kind of charm and 'x' factor that few will ever have, she alone makes this film a must see. Jet Li's performance is, as always, about his skills as a martial artist but his scripted acting continues to improve. Another stand out performance for me was that of D.B. Woodside who plays Trish O'Days brother - Colin. Although not such a major role, D.B. excels in this role. High end production values mean the film has a real style and "gloss" to it and everything fits in place and the story moves along at just the right pace. In fact, "Romeo Must Die" is a shining example of how good story telling does not need to be lost in a sea of special effects and glossy American values. Jonathon Ross describes the film as "Fast, Furious, Fun", which is definitely true, but there is more to this film that the audience can take away with them. The reason the film works is that it works on two levels - storyline and action. You can enjoy both aspects and take from them what you like. This is a brilliant film and I highly recommend it.
The film boasts some serious eye candy with some of the best special effects you'll see. Luckily, this is not the only good thing going for the movie as the eye candy is wonderfully supported by some fantastic performances from the cast. In her first feature movie, Aaliyah is absolutely breath taking as Trish O'Day. Showing the kind of charm and 'x' factor that few will ever have, she alone makes this film a must see. Jet Li's performance is, as always, about his skills as a martial artist but his scripted acting continues to improve. Another stand out performance for me was that of D.B. Woodside who plays Trish O'Days brother - Colin. Although not such a major role, D.B. excels in this role. High end production values mean the film has a real style and "gloss" to it and everything fits in place and the story moves along at just the right pace. In fact, "Romeo Must Die" is a shining example of how good story telling does not need to be lost in a sea of special effects and glossy American values. Jonathon Ross describes the film as "Fast, Furious, Fun", which is definitely true, but there is more to this film that the audience can take away with them. The reason the film works is that it works on two levels - storyline and action. You can enjoy both aspects and take from them what you like. This is a brilliant film and I highly recommend it.
- Translucid2k4
- Jul 10, 2005
- Permalink
... only if you don't try to hard to hate it. Because of course it's not the greatest movie and in no way does this ever touch the greatness that Jet Li's HK movies had ... but then again it's a nice story (one that has been told million times before, sometimes with less action, sometimes with more). The clue to the origin of that story can be found in the title ... ;o) Jet Li plays the main role, but you could expect what you'd see from him. But you couldn't really foresee what Aaliyah's performance would be like. She turned up a good performance and it's a shame that she died a few years ago, much too early ...
See this movie and you'll be entertained lightly! :o)
See this movie and you'll be entertained lightly! :o)
First of all, there is absolutely nothing to be said for the acting in this film. No one delivered a notable performance at all, so don't expect anything in that department. Jet Li provides some amazing martial arts scenes that are just a lot of fun to watch, but unfortunately most of them were distorted beyond recognition with special effects and obviously faked stunts. There are scenes where he obviously defies gravity, and things like that are just insulting. I can see that Jet Li is a phenomenal martial artist, I don't need all this stuff to make him look even better than he is. That's where Jackie Chan has Jet Li beaten (the ONLY place where Jackie Chan has Jet Li beaten). Chan does his own stunts, and even though they are manipulated by the editing, everything seen on screen is real, it was done right in front of the camera just as it appears in the film.
However, despite the computer generated excesses, the x-ray shots during some of the more intense fight scenes were interesting enough, except for the final scene, which was ridiculously unrealistic. Also, I don't like being expected to believe that Jet Li, as good of a fighter as he is, could defeat four prison guards while hanging upside down by one leg with his hands shackled together. That's just too much. But despite his mediocre acting, there is something that about him that just makes him interesting to watch. Ironically enough, I particularly liked the street football game he was lured into, where he ended up adding an element of martial arts to the game. True, this scene was thrown in for no reason whatsoever (in true Big Momma's House form), and his moves were obviously faked, but it was just fun to watch.
Romeo Must Die takes a tired theme about powerful gangs turning against each other and molds a tired martial arts movie out of it. There's nothing new here except the somewhat interesting but also questionable use of x-ray photography in some of the fight scenes, and yes, someone even manages to say "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." Thanks for the pearls of wisdom there, Silk. I guess that was their pathetic attempt to justify the excessive violence portrayed in the film. What a joke. The film is watchable, but beware of severe acting and directing mediocrity.
However, despite the computer generated excesses, the x-ray shots during some of the more intense fight scenes were interesting enough, except for the final scene, which was ridiculously unrealistic. Also, I don't like being expected to believe that Jet Li, as good of a fighter as he is, could defeat four prison guards while hanging upside down by one leg with his hands shackled together. That's just too much. But despite his mediocre acting, there is something that about him that just makes him interesting to watch. Ironically enough, I particularly liked the street football game he was lured into, where he ended up adding an element of martial arts to the game. True, this scene was thrown in for no reason whatsoever (in true Big Momma's House form), and his moves were obviously faked, but it was just fun to watch.
Romeo Must Die takes a tired theme about powerful gangs turning against each other and molds a tired martial arts movie out of it. There's nothing new here except the somewhat interesting but also questionable use of x-ray photography in some of the fight scenes, and yes, someone even manages to say "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." Thanks for the pearls of wisdom there, Silk. I guess that was their pathetic attempt to justify the excessive violence portrayed in the film. What a joke. The film is watchable, but beware of severe acting and directing mediocrity.
- Anonymous_Maxine
- Aug 27, 2000
- Permalink