Review of Romeo Must Die

Introduction

This film is described by the producers as "Hip Hop Kung Fu". An interesting idea for a marriage, and one that hasn`t really been attempted many times before. There have been plenty of Far East meets West crossovers of course, but this one attempts to play it from a slightly different angle.

"Romeo Must Die" is Jet Li`s second American film (the first being Lethal Weapon 4), but he`s made nearly 30 Hong Kong films before this. The film represents a change for Jet, with bigger budgets and more special effects. But how does it stand up?

Video

An excellent 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. The picture is clean and crisp with plenty of detail. Basically everything looks very good and just as it should.

Plenty of swift camera work is needed to follow our high-kicking heroes as they fly through the air, and the picture chops and changes at a furious pace.

There are some interesting special effects sequences here too, which I won`t talk about too much as you can find out more about them by watching the DVD. There are some interesting effects at the ends of fight scenes, and they reminded me of another film that I`d seen recently, but I can`t remember what that film was! You`ll know what I`m talking about when you watch the scenes.

Audio

A bass-heavy pumping DD5.1 soundtrack is on offer. There`s no real score to speak of, it`s just Hip Hop/Rap/R`n`B all the way. This is very fitting for the most part, as it often reflects what`s going on on-screen.

There are some good surround effects from time to time too, and most of your speakers will be in action at some point. I did find the dialogue a little quiet in certain scenes though.

Features

Lots of extras on offer here too, but I got the feeling of quantity over quality.

There are about ten 2 or 3 minute "featurettes", which are behind-the-scenes style, with narration in the form of on-screen captions. There are some interesting snippets of information, but it would have been nice to have all of the bits compiled into one longer featurette. There are also several slightly longer featurettes.

There`s another making of documentary here too, in the form of an HBO "First Look" documentary - this is pretty standard stuff! The case mentions three music videos - there are actually two, plus a very short "making of" feature about one of those. You`ll also find trailers and a cast and crew list.

Conclusion

"Romeo Must Die" tries to live up to its billing. But ultimately it fails. It`s entertaining enough, but the plot is confused, and there`s not enough action in between. There aren`t many fight scenes (you`d expect more for a Jet Li film) and in general the East/West crossover doesn`t quite work.

With many of the crew also working on "The Matrix", comparisons are inevitable, and there are some similarities. But ultimately this is a failed attempt to bring Jet Li to a "Western" audience in a "Western" film. If you want to see Jet Li in action, watch the "Once Upon A Time In China" series or "Fist Of Legend" instead.

Recommended for rental only.