|
Romeo Must Die
The skinny. There's a war on between the Chinese and Black gangsters along the Oakland, CA waterfront. Po Sing (Jon Kit Lee), son of the Chinese Godfather (Tong Lung), is in an Blacks-only club and thus provokes a fight. Then he's bailed out by confederate Kai (Russell Wong). After some butt is seriously kicked, Po and Kai argue, then we find Sing hanging from a lamppost. The obvious suspects are the Black gangsters, who's Godfather, Isaak O'Day (Delroy Lindo), declares innocence. Old Mr. Sing isn't so sure. Meanwhile in Hong King....
So once Han gets to Oakland, he humorously gets aquatinted with Isaak's daughter Trish (Aaliyah), who's trying to ditch her comic relief bodyguard Maurice (Anthony Anderson). There are more fights with the Blacks and a really nice "practice" with Kai. The "Romeo and Juliet" part of the plot isn't nearly as intrusive on the fighting as it might have been. Aaliyah and Jet have a really nice chemistry together, and the it really helps in one of the fight scenes. The acting is really good for this sort of thing. Lindo brings real gravitas to the part, Wong and Isaiah Washington are dazzlingly slimy as the two second in commands. D.B. Woodside acquits himself in a generally thankless role as Trish's brother Colin and Edoardo Ballerini sleeps through his part as the billionaire who is behind almost everything. But the focus of the film is on Jet and Aaliyah who both turn in marvelous performances.
Eric Lurio
|
Richard E. Schiff
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
he
Kung fu movie is like the old fashioned musical in this way: the plot is
secondary. What counts is the choreography, nothing else. So if you're
looking for true Shakespearean drama, look elsewhere. But if you're
looking for beautiful gore, this is the film for you.
Po's brother Han (Jet Li) hears the news, and escapes from jail. Okay,
this is patently ridiculous, but the choreography is so brilliant that you
don't care. The use of special effects is reminiscent of "The
Matrix" where the laws of gravity are bent and marital arts
simulations are downright thrilling. They even have animated x-rays so you
can see which organs are getting stomped. They don't use this trick much,
which is good because it's more effective that way.
This is Bartkowiak's first time out as a director, but he's one of the
top cinematographers out there, and it shows. The visuals are stunning and
the stunts stunning. This isn't for kids, or fans of high drama, but if
you're a fan of Hong Kong action flicks, this is one you have to see.
