Romeo Must Die
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''Romeo Must Die'' is a 2000 American
action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...
directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak in his directorial debut, and features fight choreography by Corey Yuen. The film stars
Jet Li Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese-born Singaporean Martial arts, martial artist and actor. With a Jet Li filmography, film career spanning more than forty years, Li is re ...
,
Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton ( ; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer, actress, dancer, and model. Known as the " Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop", she is credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, p ...
(in her film debut), Isaiah Washington, Russell Wong, DMX, and Delroy Lindo. The film marks Aaliyah's only film that was released during her lifetime, before she was killed in a plane crash one year later on August 25, 2001. The plot is loosely related to
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...
'', transplanted to contemporary Oakland with Black-American and Chinese-American gangs representing the feuding families. Frustrated by the lack of originality in Hollywood action films, producer
Joel Silver Joel Silver (born July 14, 1952) is an American film producer. Life and career Silver was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of a writer and a public relations executive. His family is Jewish. He attended Columbia High School ...
built the film around Hong Kong action films. He cast established Hong Kong actor Jet Li following his role in '' Lethal Weapon 4''. R&B singer Aaliyah was cast and sang the soundtrack's lead single " Try Again" which topped the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ''Romeo Must Die'' was released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on March 24, 2000, where it received mixed reviews from critics, but was a box office success, grossing $91 million against a production budget of $25 million. The film was considered Li and Aaliyah's breakthrough in Hollywood.


Plot

Po Sing is the youngest son of Chinese Triad boss Ch'u Sing, who is accosted by African-Americans in a nightclub owned by Silk in
Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
. Po is rescued and admonished by Kai, Ch'u's chief lieutenant. Po leaves the club, but is found murdered the next day by a kid on a bicycle. Han Sing is Po's brother and a former cop who has been imprisoned in
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
. Han learns of his brother's death and escapes to Oakland to investigate, where Ch'u is engaged in a joint business venture with Isaak O'Day, a black real estate developer and gang leader. The two have been acquiring deeds to properties along the waterfront to sell to Vincent Roth, a business magnate who plans to buy a new NFL franchise and build a stadium. Despite assurances from Ch'u that their partnership remains intact, Isaak fears retribution following Po's death and has his chief lieutenant Mac place security details on his son Colin and his daughter Trish, who refuses to be involved in her father's illegal enterprises. In a chance encounter, Han befriends Trish by helping her ditch her assigned security Maurice and then discovers Po called Trish's clothing store the day before he was killed. At his brother's funeral, Han confronts his estranged father and blames him for failing to protect Po after Han helped them both flee to America to escape Chinese authorities, which resulted in Han's imprisonment. Kai informs Han that Po's death has been the result of the escalating gang war between the Chinese and African-Americans. Meanwhile, Colin tells his father that he was supposed to have met Po at the club on the night of his murder to discuss information that could end the war. That night, Colin and his girlfriend are murdered by an unseen assailant. Trish and Han team up and realize that Po wanted to show Colin a list of businesses that were either destroyed or being threatened for failing to sell their properties. The two visit one of the remaining businesses on Po's list, but the Chinese owner and his employees have been killed. After killing the Chinese hitmen responsible, Han questions his father, who deflects suspicion by suggesting Isaak may have used outside contractors. Later, Ch'u is shown ordering the death of several other Triad bosses to acquire their territories. Trish and Han visit the last holdout on Po's list: Silk's nightclub where Po was last seen. Han and Trish meet with Silk, but Mac kills him for his deed and abducts the two. At a remote location, Han defeats Mac's henchmen led by Maurice and goes to rescue Trish. Ch'u and Isaak meet with Roth to sell him the deeds for the properties they now control. After Ch'u takes a multimillion-dollar payment and departs, Isaak refuses his payment, stating that "his compensation" will be in the form of an ownership share of the new franchise. An enraged Mac threatens Isaak to take the deal using Trish as a hostage. He also reveals that the "gang war" was a ruse he and Ch'u concocted to cover their murder and intimidation of businessmen who refused to sign away their properties and admits to killing Colin. In the ensuing shootout, Isaak is wounded while Roth escapes via helicopter. However, Mac shoots Roth's briefcase out of his hand and the deeds scatter into the wind. Han arrives and confronts Mac about Po who reveals that it was the Chinese who killed him, and is about to shoot Han when Trish kills Mac first. Trish waits with her father for an ambulance while Han leaves to find Ch'u. At the Sing compound, Kai admits he personally killed Po for interfering with Ch'u's dealings with Roth. Han engages Kai in a fist fight, and eventually kills him. Han berates his father for killing Po out of greed and declares that he will leave him to be punished by either the police or the other Triad families. As Han walks away, Ch'u picks up his gun and shoots himself, Han, almost on the verge of tears, stops in his tracks, and finally accepts his father’s death for all the trouble he went through. and Han finds Trish waiting for him outside and the two walk away together as the police arrive.


Cast

*
Jet Li Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese-born Singaporean Martial arts, martial artist and actor. With a Jet Li filmography, film career spanning more than forty years, Li is re ...
as Han Sing ** Jonross Fong as Young Han Sing *
Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton ( ; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer, actress, dancer, and model. Known as the " Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop", she is credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, p ...
as Trish O'Day * Isaiah Washington as Mac * Russell Wong as Kai * DMX as "Silk" * Delroy Lindo as Isaak O'Day * DB Woodside as Colin O'Day * Henry O as Ch'u Sing * Anthony Anderson as Maurice *
Edoardo Ballerini Edoardo Ballerini (born March 20, 1970) is an American actor, narrator, writer, and film director. On screen he is best known for his work as junkie List of characters from The Sopranos in the Soprano crime family#Corky Caporale, Corky Caporale in ...
as Vince Roth * Françoise Yip as Meriana Sing, Motorcycle Fighter * Terry Chen as Kung * Tseng Chang as Victor Ho * Jon Kit Lee as Po Sing ** Ryan Jefferson Lowe as Young Po Sing * Matthew Harrison as Dave * Alvin Sanders as Calvin * Manoj Sood as Akbar


Production

During the late 1990s, the producer
Joel Silver Joel Silver (born July 14, 1952) is an American film producer. Life and career Silver was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of a writer and a public relations executive. His family is Jewish. He attended Columbia High School ...
became annoyed that he did not see anything fresh or original in American action films. For inspiration, he turned to Hong Kong action cinema, where Jet Li was an established movie star. In addition to the influence of Hong Kong martial arts films, the production team also introduced a new visual effect technique: the presentation of martial arts fighting in
X-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...
vision. They initially experimented with it for a single fight scene with Jet Li and tested it in front of an American audience, which gave an overwhelmingly positive response, before using it in more action scenes throughout the film. The film's setting is
Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
, but other than a few establishing shots, film production was entirely in
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
.
Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
began on May 3, 1999 and ended on July 23, 1999. Filming locations included Gastown, Grandview–Woodland, Vanier Park, Chinatown, Versatile Pacific Shipyards, and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. According to the documentary '' The Slanted Screen'', Han and Trish were supposed to have a kissing scene, which explains the title of Romeo, but this did not test well with an urban audience. Jet Li stated on his personal website that they had filmed both versions of the scene (with kiss and without), and decided to use the latter because it would be "somewhat strange and awkward" for Han to have witnessed his father's suicide and then to come out and kiss someone.


Release

''Romeo Must Die'' debuted at #2 at the U.S. box office behind '' Erin Brockovich'', which had come out a week earlier. The film was produced with a budget of
US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
25 million. In North America, ''Romeo Must Die'' earned $18,014,503 (2,641 theaters, $6,821 per screen average) in its opening weekend. ''Romeo Must Die''s total North American gross is $55,973,336. The film's worldwide box office gross is $91,036,760. It was released in the United States on DVD on August 1, 2000, and on Blu-ray on August 14, 2012.


Critical reception

The film has a 32% approval rating from 94 reviews on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, a
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
; the critical consensus reads: "In his second Hollywood movie, Jet Li impresses. Unfortunately, when he's not on screen, the movie slows to a crawl. Though there's some spark between Jet and Aaliyah, there isn't any threat of a fire. And as impressive as the action sequences are, some critics feel they are over-edited." Elvis Mitchell of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' called the movie "dreary" but said it was bound to be a hit due to its combination of martial arts action and hip hop. Writing for the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'', Bob Graham likened it to ''
The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction film, science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in the The Matrix (franchise), ''Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ca ...
'', describing it as a "cross-cultural kung fu extravaganza" that shines during Li's stunts. In his review for the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'', Rene Rodriguez said the film is "needlessly convoluted" and should not have added special effects on top of Li's stunts, which he said makes them seem less impressive because of the artificiality.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
rated the film 1.5/4 stars and also criticized the use of computer-generated special effects in a martial arts film, saying that it "misses the point" of having audiences be impressed by realistic stunts. Aaliyah received praise for her role.


Soundtrack

''Romeo Must Die: The Album'' was released on March 28, 2000 through Blackground/
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...
in association with Warner Bros. (who helped co-financed the soundtrack). Composed of
hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
and R&B music, it features contributions from film star Aaliyah, who appears on fours songs and served as one of executive producers on the soundtrack album. Three singles were released from the album: " Try Again", " Come Back in One Piece" and "We At It Again".


See also

* Jet Li filmography * Aaliyah filmography


References


External links

* * * * {{Authority control 2000 films 2000 action films 2000 directorial debut films 2000 martial arts films 2000s American films 2000s English-language films American films about revenge American action films American martial arts films African-American films Films about Chinese Americans Films about filicide Films scored by Stanley Clarke Films about African-American organized crime Films about interracial romance Films about race and ethnicity Films based on Romeo and Juliet Films directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak Films produced by Joel Silver Films set in 1999 Films set in Hong Kong Films set in Oakland, California Films shot in Vancouver Gun fu films Kung fu films Silver Pictures films Triad films Warner Bros. films English-language action films