Romeo Must Die
USA 2000
Reviewed by Ken Hollings
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
US, the present. Escaping from a Hong Kong jail, ex-cop Han Sing arrives in Oakland to avenge the death of his younger brother Po, killed in the battle between Chinese and African-American gangs over the ownership of several waterfront properties. In conflict with his father Ch'u, who heads a coalition of Asian gangs, Han is thrown together with Trish O'Day, daughter of rival gang-leader Isaak, who dreams of going into legitimate business.
When Trish's brother Colin is murdered amid attacks on local business premises, Han suspects that insiders are involved. It transpires that a shady development consortium is intent on obtaining the land for a football stadium. Before the deeds can be signed, Trish informs her father that Mac, his right-hand man, has gunned down a local club-owner whose property was the last to be acquired. Admitting his desire to replace him as crime boss, Mac shoots Isaak while boasting of how he murdered Colin. Mac also reveals Han's brother was assassinated by someone in his own gang. Han hunts down Po's bodyguard Kai, who confesses to the murder. After killing Kai, Han confronts Ch'u with ordering his son's death, obliging the old man to commit suicide.
Review
In an age of aggressively co-ordinated media campaigns, high-speed digital editing and bludgeoning urban beats, the commercial potential of the martial-arts movie would appear to be limitless. Fast, tough and stylish, with a generous side order of street credibility thanks to the success of top rap acts such as the Wu-Tang Clan, the genre appeals as both an object of pop-cult veneration and as arthouse entertainment. Adapting its conventions to mainstream western audiences is another matter entirely. Before successfully casting Jet Li ( or Jet Lee as he then chose to spell his name) as Wong Fei-Hung, a legendary Cantonese folk hero who is the subject of a string of Hong Kong movies from the 40s onwards, in Once upon a Time in China (1991), Tsui Hark directed him in a radical update of the role, relocated to the west coast of America. Originally released in 1989, The Master may have been filmed entirely in Los Angeles, but it still took place on Li's own turf. A five-times world wushu champion, Li had always displayed greater skill as an athlete than as an actor, but the African-American street kids who followed his character about here respected his spiritual self-discipline and fighting technique. Nearly ten years on, and the predominantly young cast of Romeo Must Die seem too preoccupied with grid-iron football, real estate and flashing around their status symbols to pay Li's latest hero Han much mind.
At times playing like a feature-length promotional video for its own soundtrack album, the film looks as if Andrzej Bartkowiak, making his directorial debut after photographing Li in Lethal Weapon 4, had decided to assemble the whole piece around the star without actually telling him what was going on. This might have explained the total lack of romantic chemistry between Li and singer Aaliyah. Our star-crossed lovers are so emotionally off-channel, it's easy to forget the origin of the film's title; together they make Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut look like Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara.
With such a gaping chasm at its heart, Romeo Must Die relies on a strong supporting cast to get by. Russell Wong brings a malevolent energetic charm to gang member Kai, while Isaiah Washington exudes taut fury as the villain Mac. Playing Han's father, Henry O conducts his scenes opposite Li, presented in subtitled Chinese, with a fluid intensity. Unfortunately, the same can't be said of the fight sequences. Devised and choreographed by Li and Corey Yuen, they suffer from fussy editing and unimaginative camerawork. The insertion of animated X-ray images, showing bones being broken, and a spine shattering, offers some moments of flair, but there should be more going on beneath the skin than this.
Credits
- Director
- Andrzej Bartkowiak
- Producers
- Joel Silver
- Jim Van Wyck
- Screenplay
- Eric Bernt
- John Jarrell
- Story
- Mitchell Kapner
- Director of Photography
- Glen MacPherson
- Editor
- Derek G. Brechin
- Production Designer
- Michael Bolton
- Music
- Stanley Clarke
- Timbaland
- ©Warner Bros.
- Production Companies
- Warner Bros. presents a Silver Pictures production
- Executive Producer
- Dan Cracchiolo
- Co-producer
- Warren Carr
- Associate Producers
- Ilyse Reutlinger
- Mitchell Kapner
- Production Office Co-ordinators
- Kathleen Nurit
- Susan Murray
- Unit Production Manager
- Warren Carr
- Location Managers
- Bev White
- 2nd Unit:
- Craig Young
- Post-production Supervisor
- Ilyse Reutlinger
- 2nd Unit Director
- Conrad E. Palmisano
- Assistant Directors
- Jim Van Wyck
- David Arnold
- Kathy Houghton
- Eddy Santos
- 2nd Unit:
- Don French
- Dave Footman
- Sirish Harman
- Script Supervisors
- Cristina Weigmann
- 2nd Unit:
- Lori Kuchera
- Casting
- Lora Kennedy
- Canadian:
- Lynne Carrow
- US Associate:
- Kristy Sager
- Canadian Associate:
- Sue Brouse
- 2nd Unit Director of Photography
- Danny Nowak
- Camera Operators
- Stephen Campanelli
- Peter Rosenfeld
- David Luckenbach
- Jim van Dijk
- Will Waring
- Bob Findlay
- 2nd Unit:
- Keith Thomson
- Richard Wilson
- Steadicam Operators
- Stephen Campanelli
- Peter Rosenfeld
- David Luckenbach
- Jim van Dijk
- 2nd Unit:
- Richard Wilson
- Visual Effects
- Manex Visual Effects, LLC
- Special Effects Co-ordinator
- Tony Lazarowich
- Special Effects
- Andrew Sculthorp
- Wayne Szybunka
- Clay Scheirer
- Andre Dominguez
- Steve Fox
- Attila Vaski
- Chris Schreiber
- Visual Consultant
- J. Michael Riva
- Art Director
- Jim Steuart
- Set Designer
- Jay Mitchell
- Set Decorator
- Rose Marie McSherry
- Storyboard Artist
- Adrien Vanveirsen
- Costume Designer
- Sandra J. Blackie
- Costume Supervisor
- Susan Bloedorn
- Make-up
- Key Artist:
- Taylor Roberts
- Artists:
- Michelle Hrescak
- Tanya Hudson
- Eric Ferrell
- Eleanora Winslow
- Key Hairstylist
- Donna Bis
- Hairstylists
- Heather Stewart
- Eric Ferrell
- 2nd Unit:
- Nancy Steyns
- Title Sequence Design/Production
- The Picture Mill
- Titles/Opticals
- Pacific Title
- Conductors
- Ira Hearshen
- Stanley Clarke
- Orchestrations
- Ira Hearshen
- Kennard Ramsey
- John Kull
- Music Supervisors
- Barry Hankerson
- Jomo Hankerson
- Music Editors
- Jennifer Nash
- Bradley A. Segal
- Music Score Mixer
- Dan Humann
- Music Score Recordist
- Frank Wolfe
- Music Consultant
- Brian Friedman
- Soundtrack
- "First I'm Gonna Crawl" - DMX; "This Is a Test" - Chanté Moore; "It Really Don't Matter" - Confidential; "You're Not from Brighton" - Fatboy Slim; "I See You Baby (Full Frontal mix)" - Groove Armada, Gram'ma Funk; "Come Back in One Piece" - Aaliyah featuring DMX; "Perfect Man" - Destiny's Child; "Inside My Mind/Blue Skies" - Groove Armada; "High Roller" - The Crystal Method; "Rose in a Concrete World" - Joe; "We At It Again" - Timbaland, Magoo; "Going Home" - DJ Frane, includes sample from "Good Luck Charm" - Ohio Players; "I Don't Wanna", "Are You Feelin' Me?", "Try Again" - Aaliyah; "Rollin' Raw" - BG From Ca$h Money; "Thugz" - Mack 10 featuring The Comrades; "Keep Hope Alive" - The Crystal Method; "Somebody's Gonna Die" - Dave Bing featuring Lil' Mo
- Sound Designer
- Dane A. Davis
- Additional Sound Design
- Joe Milner
- Sound Mixers
- Production:
- Rob Young
- 2nd Unit:
- Darren Brisker
- Re-recording Mixers
- John Reitz
- Dave Campbell
- Gregg Rudloff
- Supervising Sound Editor
- Dane A. Davis
- Co-supervising Sound Editor
- Julia Evershade
- Dialogue Editor
- Charles W. Ritter
- Sound Effects Editor
- Joe Milner
- ADR
- Mixers:
- Troy Porter
- Tom O'Connell
- Editor:
- Julia Evershade
- Foley
- Artists:
- John Roesch
- Allyson Moore
- Mixers:
- Marilyn Graf
- Mary Jo Lang
- Supervising Editor:
- Thom Brennan
- Marine Co-ordinator/2nd Unit Marine Coordinator
- Dan Crosby
- Aerial Co-ordinator
- Jim Filipponi
- Stunt Co-ordinator
- Conrad E. Palmisano
- Martial Arts Supervision
- Corey Yuen
- 2nd Unit Armourer
- Rob Fournier
- Cast
- Jet Li
- Han Sing
- Aaliyah
- Trish O'Day
- Isaiah Washington
- Mac
- Russell Wong
- Kai
- Henry O
- Ch'u Sing
- D.B. Woodside
- Colin O'Day
- Edoardo Ballerini
- Vincent Roth
- Jon Kit Lee
- Po Sing
- Anthony Anderson
- Maurice
- DMX
- Silk
- Delroy Lindo
- Isaak O'Day
- Edoardo Ballerini
- Vincent Roth
- Anthony Anderson
- Maurice
- Matthew Harrison
- Dave
- Terry Chen
- Kung
- Derek Lowe
- Chinese messenger
- Ronin Wong
- new prisoner
- Byron Lawson
- head guard
- Kendall Saunders
- Colin's girlfriend
- Benz Antoine
- crabman
- Keith Dallas
- bouncer
- Taayla Markell
- Po's girlfriend
- Chang Tseng
- Victor Ho
- Tong Lung
- Richard Yee
- Colin Foo
- overlords
- Lance Gibson
- doorman
- Grace Park
- Jennifer Wong
- Asian dancers
- Manoj Sood
- cab driver
- Fatima Robinson
- Lori
- Gaston Howard
- Clay Donahue Fontenot
- Maurice's crew
- Ryan Jefferson Lowe
- young Po
- Jonross Fong
- young Han
- Alonso Oyarzun
- Alonso
- Samuel Scantlebury
- paperboy
- François Yip
- motorcycle fighter
- Alvin Sanders
- Calvin
- William S. Taylor
- Harold
- Morgan Reynolds
- Morgan
- David Kopp
- delivery man
- Aaron Joseph
- kid in boutique
- William MacDonald
- officer
- Oliver Svensson-Tan
- gate guard
- Candice McClure
- store clerk
- W.J. Waters
- hardware store clerk
- Cesar Abraham
- park bench kid
- Jerry Grant
- bartender
- Tonjha Richardson
- store clerk
- Chic Gibson
- taxi driver
- Jody Vance
- sportscaster
- Perry Solkowski
- anchor
- Ann Gwathmey
- shoppper
- Certificate
- tbc
- Distributor
- Warner Bros Distributors (UK)
- tbc feet
- tbc minutes
- Dolby Digital/DTS/SDDS
- Colour by
- Technicolor
- 2.35:1 [Super 35]