Deleting account in 5 days. If you want to stay in touch, send me a guestbook message.
Deleting account in 5 days. If you want to stay in touch, send me a guestbook message.
Member since:08.03.2001
Reviews:254
Members who trust:141
How exactly do you express a disappointed sigh in words? Tricky... instead, let me express my notions about this movie thusly: Oh dear.
I love martial arts movies. Now, not every martial arts feature has the greatest plot in the world. Most involve a double cross or twelve, and a theme of family loyalty. Romeo Must Die has more double crosses than a Playtex factory, and family issues? More than a 12 hour Jerry Springer marathon. So what went wrong?
Jet Li (Lethal Weapon 4) stars as Han Sing, and comes to America (after an impressive jail break) to avenge the death of his brother. Ching! Check the “family loyalty” box. Meanwhile, the late R’n’B star Alliyah (as Trish O’Day) is lamenting her brother’s use of her business as a go between for shady dealings that he and the rest of her family are caught up in, despite the efforts of her father (Delroy Lindo –wasted on this kind of thing) to go legit. Set against this is a business hoping to buy waterfront properties owned by the opposing black and Chinese
gangs.
Han accidentally encounters Trish after he steals a taxi (and just because the driver is off duty – that’s how hard it is to get a cab in the USA, y’see), and the pair hit it off immediately. And this is where the Romeo part of the title comes in, because this is the loosest retelling possible of the Romeo & Juliet story – warring families and (potential) lovers from both sides. And that’s where the similarities end, as the families war against each other and Han gets closer to finding out who killed his brother. Trish is drawn further into the mix as her brother becomes a victim of the gang war.
Now, there are no surprises to be had from hereon in. You know the bad guys will get their comeuppance, the good guys will win (even though everyone except Trish is a criminal – just go with it!), and there’s going to be some big league a$$ kicking.
There are two gimmicks in the fights on offer. One is the occasional zooming in to a character’s body with an x-ray shot to see bones breaking or organs being punctured. Nice idea, but it has nothing to do with anything – and I found it to be an unnecessary trick to try and increase interest. The other gimmick is far more infuriating - wire work. Now, wire work when done right can be a great aide to a fight, letting people spin into walls in an impressive way, or letting people jump greater distances/heights than usual. This worked quite well in Charlie’s Angels, for example, because it was tongue in cheek action. This movie takes itself seriously, so when people are visibly yanked on wires (hell, you can even SEE Jet feeling the impact of a wire in the American Football sequence) it is terrible. Jet is a speedy and inventive fighter, and doesn’t need such gimmickry to impress – so why was it included?
The script isn’t much better either – lines like “that’s some cold sh*t” should be subject to a fine, and the characters are about as well rounded as a rectangle. Seeing as the action is fairly patchy, some cool dialogue and original character motivations would go a long way towards making this into a great film, rather than an okay one.
Alliyah is a sad loss to the world, there is no denying – this is definitely her movie. She has just the right level of attitude, is believable at every step, and even joins in the scrapping at one point. Jet’s acting is competent (he even smiles!), and his skills are amazing when fighting, but Alliyah steals the show 100%. Even her contributions to the soundtrack (including Fatboy Slim, Crystal Method, Joe and DMX - who also appears in the movie) stand out a mile. Incidentally, Timbaland has a hand (and a lot of the production) in the soundtrack, and produced the single “Try Again” by Alliyah which was released alongside the movie (the video features Jet and Alliyah recreating some stunts from the movie, and even a take on the “hall of mirrors” from Enter the Dragon).
It’s frustrating to watch Jet Li in movies like this – it’s obvious he could do so much better and break through to an excellent mainstream movie. I’m sure one day he will. As it stands, I would go for one of his all-action movies, rather than this sporadic wire assisted let down. I’ve seen worse, but I’ve seen a lot better too. Maybe The Matrix has spoilt us with its fantastic action, but seeing as Joel Silver is tied to this movie too, he needs to concentrate his efforts on producing more Matrix-quality films, not running the quality of films by making them like the Matrix.
Production Year: 1972 - Martial Arts - Director: Bruce Lee - Original Language: English\Cantonese\Chinese - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Bruce Lee, Nora Miao, Chuck Norris, Robert Wall, Jon T. Benn
Production Year: 1981 - Martial Arts - Director: Kenji Misumi, Robert Houston - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Kayo Matsuo, Minoru Ohki, Akiji Kobayashi, Shin Kishida, Masahiro Tomikawa, Tomisaburo Wakayama
Martial Arts - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Bruce Lee, Sho Kosugi, James Ryan, Jim Kelly, Jimmy Wang Yu, Bolo Yeung, Christopher Lee
I was slightly disappointed with it too, but not as much as yourself. Thought the x-ray stuff didn't really work, but was at least worth a try as an original addition, agree with your thoughts on the wires too. My main problem was that it was overly long, and actually tried to be too clever and intricately plotted at times. Thought Aaliyah was great though - she would have went on to be a huge actress. Cheers - Rick
faithbuck 04.10.2001 12:33
Reckon you've put me off this. I would wholeheartedly trust your film ops but for your constant praising of The Matrix - was I the only person on earth who thought it was overhyped crap?!!!
Cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak, the cameraman behindSpeed,Lethal Weapon 4, andThe ... more
Devil's Advocate, makes his directorial debut with a lively but by-the-numbers film that mixes Hong Kong action pyrotechnics with gritty urban gang drama. Jet Li star...
Postage & Packaging: Check Site. Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak, the cameraman behindSpeed,Lethal Weapon 4, andThe ... more
Devil's Advocate, makes his directorial debut with a lively but by-the-numbers film that mixes Hong Kong action pyrotechnics with gritty urban gang drama. Jet Li star...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
They've got the weapons. And they've got no chance against former Hong Kong cop Han Sing. ... more
Gravity-warping martial arts cool visual effects and an all-star music track combine in this revved-up action movie from producer Joel Silver (The Matrix) and st...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
They've got the weapons. They've got the posses. And they've got no chance against former ... more
Hong Kong cop Han Sing. Gravity-warping martial arts, cool visual effects and an all-star music track combine in this revved-up action movie from producer Joel Si...
Advantages: Entertaining, clever visual effects, good performances. Disadvantages: Watch it, and enjoy it. But definitely don't expect anything from it.
krabople 11.09.2001 (11.09.2001)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Romeo Must Die (DVD)
Advantages: good story/acting, excellent soundtrack, bursting with special features Disadvantages: *slight* predictability though not too much to put you off the movie itself. Game on PC enhancement not worth playing.
Fiz_whiz 19.09.2002 (19.09.2002)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Romeo Must Die (DVD)
![Romeo Must Die [DVD] [2000]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78549142.jpg "Romeo Must Die [DVD] [2000]")
Oct 2nd, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
