Romeo Must Die (2000) stars Jet Li, Aaliyah Haughton, Delroy
Lindo, and Isaiah Washington. It was directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak. This film is a very loose adaptation of Romeo And Juliet, set in modern day
Oakland, with the two warring families as a black and Asian family. The opening
brawl takes place in a club, and is dominated by martial arts, awful dialogue
and even worse music. (One problem with this film is its music. It’s all terrible –
the score, as well as every song chosen for its soundtrack.) Anyway, the fight
begins because of Po’s presence in what is essentially a black club. Po’s
murdered body is then discovered the next day. Isaak O’Day (Delroy Lindo), the
head of the black family, did not order the hit, and orders an investigation into
who did. He also calls for a meeting with the head of the Sing family. The
meeting goes well, but Isaak understandably orders one of his men, Maurice, to
be a bodyguard for his daughter, Trish (Aaliyah Haughton). Meanwhile in a Hong
Kong prison, Han Sing (Jet Li) is told of his brother Po’s murder, and manages
to escape in order to go to Oakland to learn what happened. Trish gives Maurice
the slip in a terrible scene in a music store, and jumps into the back of a
taxi that Han had just stolen. They flirt a bit, and she realizes right away
that he stole the taxi. Later, following a lead he got at his dead brother’s
apartment, Han shows up at the place where Trish works just as she’s leaving.
So he follows her home, and enters her apartment. When Maurice and the gang
show up, he has to fight his way out, but makes sure he doesn’t actually kill
anyone. Colin, Trish’s brother, is killed, so Han and Trish team up to discover
who killed their brothers. It all has to do with a deal to sell some waterfront
property to the NFL. At one point, Han does sneak in through Trisha’s window.
And at the end, Mac (Isaiah Washington) actually calls Han “Romeo.” He says, “Sorry, Romeo, but you gotta die.” Romeo
doesn’t die in this version. Neither does Juliet.
The two elements that make this film worth watching are
Jet Li’s action scenes, which are mostly cool (though the football scene is one
of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen), and Delroy Lindo’s performance as
Isaak O’Day. I always enjoy watching Delroy Lindo. Most of the other actors in
this film are unbearably bad, though partly it’s the fault of the ridiculous
dialogue they’re given.
Time: 115 minutes
(The DVD’s special features include a behind-the-scenes
look, and in an interview Aaliyah does mention Romeo And Juliet at one point.)
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