Jet Li, Aaliyah, Russell Wong, Delroy Lindo, Isaiah
Washington, D.B. Woodside, DMX, Henry O, and Anthony Anderson
Asia's biggest film star, Jet Li, reaches for American
stardom in the action thriller ROMEO MUST DIE, but his first English-speaking,
Hollywood lead role falls short. Hopefully, he can take comfort
in the fact that yes, like non-Yanks Banderas and Gibson before
him, blockbuster status will be his one day very soon.
It's clear, from his first scenes in ROMEO MUST
DIE, that Li has what it takes to be a star; he magnetizes
each moment with his subversive presence. Whether the scene calls
for comedy, romance, or action, Li is clearly in command. He is
everything Nicolas Cage is and more...he's truly got the goods.
Unfortunately, those goods go completely to waste in
this confused mishmash of sources. Bernt and Jarrell's screenplay
is supposedly influenced by Romeo And Juliet but the divisions
between black and Asian gangster families hardly qualify as Shakespearean.
Han (Li) escapes from a Hong Kong prison and high-tails it to
San Francisco, where his brother has just been murdered in a war
for Oakland waterfront turf. The fathers of both warring families,
Issak O'Day (Delroy Lindo) and Ch'u Sing (Henry O) are secretly
in cahoots to secure all outstanding deeds on the waterfront,
so a football stadium can be built. But their greedy right-hand
men, Mac (Isaiah Washington) and Kai Sing (Russell Wong), have
their own separate nefarious plans. (Can you hear the demonic
laughter yet?)
Issak's daughter, Trish (Aaliyah, proving more than
competent in her first major film role), wants no part of her
father's shady dealings. A chance meeting with Han, however, puts
them both at the center of the rapidly escalating gang war. Will
the stadium get built? Will the blacks and the Asians bury one
another? Will Han and Trish find true love? Stop me when you've
had enough.
As the karate bubblegum thriller it is meant to be,
ROMEO MUST DIE gives many visceral pleasures, especially
in the acrobatic fight scenes with Li. The action is generally
of high caliber. Likewise, the performers are a cut above the
material they're playing: Washington, Wong, and Lindo are highly
respected actors who elevate all of RMD's proceedings.
An unexpected bonus is the splendid comic performance by relative
unknown Anthony Anderson as Trish's boorish bodyguard, Maurice.
In its dramatic moments, however, the film falters.
Clearly shot on a budget, the film is faux stylish, constantly
looking like a discount-store knockoff, colorful but tacky. Badly
edited and poorly scripted, the movie works very hard to be hip,
but never makes the grade. The soundtrack, filled with hip-hop
and Asian musical stereotypes, sounds like an white man's version
of a multicultural video game.
At least there is Li in the middle of all this madness.
With his charming smile, disarming manner, and impressive abilities,
he is an action star for the new century...approachable but fierce,
nice but deadly. Li treads gently on the line between maudlin
and serious, but he generally knows which way to go. As his opportunities
(and his English) improve, he will no doubt take his place among
the great international cadre of actors like Schwarzenegger, Stallone,
and Gibson. One day, we'll say we knew him when, and that will
have been in ROMEO MUST DIE.
