Romeo Must Die (DVD)

"Romeo, Romeo...wherefore art thou Romeo?" "Over here kickin' ass beeatch!" • The Movie • Romeo Must Die was Jet Li's breakthrough movie into mainstream Western cinema. Yes, I know before then he had appeared in Lethal Weapon 4 but let's be honest, no one was paying much attention to him or knew that back in his homeland he already had around 20-something movies under his belt and was one of their biggest stars when they saw that now were they? Mention he was in it now to people and they're like “oh that was Jet Li?” (or ”who??” of course lol) so this was his big break as a ...  Read the complete review

I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit that one of the key attractions of this film for me was that it was produced by the same guy that produced The Matrix. Pitched as a sort of Hip Hop meets Martial Arts fusion, Romeo Must Die is an effective action movie that is genuinely very entertaining. The film portrays two warring gangland families – one black, the other Chinese – who are about to venture into a joint contract with a property developer. When the son of the Chinese family is found murdered, suspicion becomes rife as to who is responsible, which threatens the fragile peace between the two factions. Han Sing is another son of the Chinese ...  Read the complete review

Jet Li, a very hip martial artist-type - Fist Of Legend (1997) is his calling card but he’s probably best known for his bad guy duties in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) - can hardly be described as a marquee name. Yet with The Matrix (1999) putting kung fu back into vogue, Joel Silver has endeavoured to capitalise on the awesome ‘wushu’ talents of the diminutive star, while still being savvy enough to fuse them with the hip hop scene to cover his bets. This is a kung fu movie, but it gears up to punching dance beats, and features stars of the scene Aaliyah and DMC to raise the credibility factor. The fighting - which is, in reality, why anyone is going ...  Read the complete review

The Kung-Fu Movie was started by the Great Bruce Lee, Mass-produced by the indestructible Jackie Chan, Revolutionised in The Matrix and in present times anything which doesn’t have some sort of Martial Fight scene cannot be classified as an action movie (unless it stars Arnold Swarznegger). ‘Romeo must Die’ is the latest of the Martial arts films brought into the 21st century and starring a new face on the block Jet Li. Li (Lethal Weapon 4 1998) stars as the imprisoned cop Hun Sing (or Akibar to his friends) who breaks out on hearing about the death of his brother. In the US, where his family is now one side of a gang war between the oriental ...  Read the complete review

When people think of martial arts films in a non-derogative manner two names normally spring to mind: Bruce lee and Jackie Chan. However there is one man better than either of these. Jet Li. trained from the age of seven, he has one five Wu Shu tournaments. So is a real athlete. He has the intricate grace, athleticism and poise of Jackie Chan, and the pure physical power of Bruce lee. Starting his film career with the hit "Shoalin Temple" (1981) he has risen through the ranks and is the best selling Hong Kong production star. His definitive film in my opinion is "once upon a time in china" (1991) in which he performs as the intelligent ...  Read the complete review