Let
us make no mistake, Jet Li is in top form. Even those who care little
for martial arts will watch in awe as he jumps, kicks, and flips with a
quick and flawless grace of a dancer. The fights are superbly
choreographed and filmed. Unfortunately, the martial arts artistry is
overshadowed by the superficial plot that is so far from Romeo and
Juliet that it doesn’t even deserve comparison. Not even Delroy
Lindo, whose incredible screen force we’ve witnessed in Cider House
Rules, can add much to save Romeo from dying.
Jet Li plays Han, who escapes from a
Hong Kong prison and comes to America to find the murderer of his
younger brother. Han and his brother are the sons of a Chinese Mob boss
who is at war with Isaac O’Day’s (Delroy Lindo) African-American
mafia. Han meets and falls in love with Isaac’s daughter Trish, who
has nothing to do with her father’s business. After her own brother is
murdered, Trish unites forces with Han.
Little makes sense in the complicated
murder investigation. It plods along igniting little interest or thrill,
and we quickly stop caring who did what and why and just wish for Jet Li
to kick some butt and sweep the girl of her feet.
For a movie that is supposed to have a
romance sub-plot, there is awfully little romance in Romeo Must Die.
The addition of the interracial tensions provides nothing. OK, maybe an
action based love story really doesn’t have to live up to the intrigue
of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, but in this movie, the guy
and the girl fall in love so completely, and yet don’t kiss, don’t
swoon, don’t even evidence a tinge of lust.
For martial arts enthusiasts, Jet Li’s
artistry will barely compensate for the gaping flaws of Romeo Must
Die. For others, it would be a wasted trip to the theater.
