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Movie Review: 
Romeo Must Die
by Kye Leung
2000
Will real Asian men please stand up? Contrary to what Hollywood would like us to believe, there are actually some Asian men who are not kung-fu masters, gangsters, businessmen or illegal immigrants. So what is Romeo Must Die? In short, it's a cheap reference to the Shakespeare play where no one is named Romeo and where you put some Asian gangs, Black gangs, and White businessmen together with a lot of boom but no bang between Han (played by Jet Li) and Trish (Aaliyah). What's up Hollywood? Can't an Asian male kiss a non-Asian female on screen?
The movie starts out with Li breaking out of jail in Hong Kong and comes to the U.S. to find the killer of his brother. Mixed into this is a turf war between the Asian and Black gangs who are fighting and also working with each other. Viewers ask, huh? This is because while the Blacks and Asians fight each other, it's really the White man who controls both gangs through a 30 million dollar contract to take over the waterfront so they can build an NFL stadium. While the plot sounds intriguing, the movie falls woefully short of expectations. The est character in the film is Kai (Russell Wong). He is what Hollywood thinks Asian gangsters are, Armani suits, Mercedes-Benzs, guns and a evil smile.
Jet Li is the only thing that saves this film. I first saw Jet Li in Shaolin Temple when it debuted in China. Over the years I've followed him in Once Upon a Time and Fong Sai Yuk. In Romeo Must Die, Li brings his repertoire of moves to U.S. screens and some are eerily similar to his Hong Kong films like when he fights while grabbing Aaliyah on his back, much like what he did in Fong Sai Yuk 2. How does Li, who's something like 5' 6" 150lb. size up against 6' 2" 300lb. football players? Well, if you could do straight punches, roundhouse kicks and drop kicks in football, Li would be the first person taken in the NFL draft.
While the film may not break any grounds but the leading characters are an Asian male and a Black female, that is a rarity we don't see often. Usually we see White male/Asian female leading characters or a Black male/White female leading characters, the Asian male/Black female combo presents some interesting dynamics between Li and Aaliyah. Next time, just let them kiss at the end like they do in the movies.
Related Websites:
"So what is Romeo Must Die? In short, it's a cheap reference
to the Shakespeare play where no one is named Romeo and where you
put some Asian gangs, Black gangs, and White businessmen together
with a lot of boom but no bang between Han (played by Jet Li) and
Trish (Aaliyah)"
