directed by : andrezj bartkowiak written by : mitchell kapner ( story ) , eric bernt how exactly does one review a jet li movie ? i suppose it must be held to a different template than the new film from tom hanks or meryl streep . let's face facts , if you're going to " romeo must die " expecting to see academy award material , then you obviously haven't seen the previews . you're going to see this movie for bloody , bare fisted , no holds barred style brawling . you are not going for a strong plot , great acting , or important social messages . i went into " romeo must die " expecting to see jet li at his gravity defying best , and i'm happy to report that the fight sequences are indeed something to behold . the problem is , these excellent fight scenes are few and far between , and the remainder of the film is filled with useless melodrama that no one could care less about . a gang war has consumed the bay area of oakland . the two factions are issak's ( delroy lindo ) african americans , and c'hu sing's ( henry o ) orientals . both leaders are attempting to sell their bay area property to a greedy business man ( edoardo ballerini ) so that he can develop yet another football franchise . the most recent casualty has been c'hu's son , po ( jon kit lee ) . this sets off a chain of retaliations from both sides which threatens to destroy everyone . po's death brings about the return of his brother , han ( jet li ) , from hong kong . han begins investigating the events which caused his brother to be murdered . while investigating , he meets up with issak's daughter , trish ( aaliyah ) , and the two soon form a close friendship . han must discover who the killers are before they decide to eliminate both he and trish as well . if this plot summary sounds a bit confusing that's because this is a rather confusing and convoluted movie . in case you're wondering , it also has very little to do with the bard's tale , aside from the name romeo being in the title and the story revolving around two warring families . there is no romance between trish and han , the families aren't exactly true families ( they're just warring gangs ) , and this story is missing the excellent , comical character of mercutio . in fact , the lack of humor is one of the problems with this movie . it may have a comical moment or two , mainly because of a supporting character named maurice ( anthony anderson ) and one or two amusing scenes involving li , but the majority of the film is incredibly and unnecessarily melodramatic . as for the actors , it seems that rap singers have been cast in place of actors in most cases . rapper dmx has been cast as a club manager , and aaliyah is obviously the female lead . with these two being cast in significant roles , you can guess what kind of soundtrack is going to accompany this film . if you don't like rap music , be forewarned that it doesn't stop playing throughout the entire movie . the other actors are mediocre at best ; the only two exceptions being li himself , who exudes charm , charisma , and strength , and delroy lindo ( " broken arrow " ) , who is simply a good actor doing what he can with a miserable part . worth noting is isaiah washington ( " true crime " ) , playing lindo's right hand man . washington is an early candidate for a razzie award this year , turning in an absolutely horrendous performance . andrezj bartkowiak does have one neat little trick up his sleeve . throughout the fight scenes , we are given occasional x-ray insights of what happens to a person when li hits them . it's nothing more than a gimmick , but still a rather original one . after watching " romeo must die " , i can only hope that li will be given a better script next time . the man is incredibly talented , and it's no wonder that he is one of the largest film stars in china . i do hope that his next film contains a few more fights and a lot less melodrama . one last thing i must note ; several fights in " romeo must die " are blatantly enhanced by cgi . this was completely uncalled for , as it ruins the effect of watching li do his thing . the movie runs far too long at 118 minutes . i'd recommend it to serious martial arts fans and give it three out of five stars . comments ? feel free to e-mail them to : <a href= " mailto : johnbeachem@dependentfilms . net " >johnbeachem@dependentfilms . net</a> for past reviews , movie news , and other fun stuff , visit : <a href= " http : //www . dependentfilms . net " >http : //www . dependentfilms . net</a> * * * * * - one of the greatest movies ever made , see it now . * * * * - great flick , try and catch this one . * * * - okay movie , hits and misses . * * - pretty bad , see it only if you have nothing better to do . * - one of the worst movies ever made . see it only if you enjoy pain . 
