Romeo Must Die (2000)

Director:

Andrzej Bartkowiak

Writers (WGA):

Mitchell Kapner (story)
Eric Bernt (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

22 March 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

In A World Of Vicious Rivalries And Violent Betrayals Only One Thing Is Sure.

Plot:

An avenging cop seeks out his brother's killer and falls for the daughter of a businessman who is involved in a money-deal with his father.

Plot Keywords:

Brother | Hong Kong | Prison | Waterfront | Chinese Mafia

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Jet Li	...	Han Sing
Aaliyah	...	Trish O'Day
Isaiah Washington	...	Mac
Russell Wong	...	Kai
DMX	...	Silk
Delroy Lindo	...	Isaak O'Day
D.B. Woodside	...	Colin (as DB Woodside)
Henry O	...	Ch'u Sing
Jon Kit Lee	...	Po Sing
Edoardo Ballerini	...	Vincent Roth
Anthony Anderson	...	Maurice
Matthew Harrison	...	Dave
Terry Chen	...	Kung
Derek Lowe	...	Chinese Messenger
Ronin Wong	...	New Prisoner

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, some language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:MA (TV rating) | Malaysia:18PL | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 (w) (nf) | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (cut) | USA:R | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Embarcadero Street, San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Silver Pictures

Trivia:

The golf scene is filmed on the same golf course where Bob Barker beat up Happy Gilmore in the film Happy Gilmore (1996).

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When entering the garage, Han deactivates the car alarm to find the car (light goes on). Immediately after that the main character triggers the alarm again (lights again). In cheap alarms, this might reactivate the alarm, but in other models, this unlocks the passenger door (and a third activation might open the trunk). Since he in fact entered through the passenger door, this is what happened.

Quotes:

Trish: [Han has just sneaked into her room] Are you out of your mind? What are you doing here?
Han Sing: I missed you.
Trish: You missed me? I'm gonna miss you when my father finds out you're here.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Romeo Must Rock (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

It Really Don't Matter

Enjoyable enough

There seems to be several films in this one. A story about corruption and property deals, a story about fathers and their children, a tentative Romeo and Juliet romance and of course martial arts and guns. The actors acquit themselves well. One hoped for more of Michael Wong and less of Anthony Anderson (his constant 'Dim Sum' refrain being quite irritating) but the actors act, the plot moves and the film is enjoyable enough.

Jet Li is as usual very watchable and apart from his skill at martial arts (quick and effective but always graceful) he acts OK. His cab scene with Aaliyah is charming and funny and one wanted more of that but their relationship is underdeveloped in the script. It is a pity as Aaliyah is luminous and sassy. Her untimely death in real life was a tragedy.

Not as good as 'Kiss of the Dragon' but better than 'The One' and 'Cradle 2 the Grave' but inferior to Jet Li's Hong Kong movies.