Romeo Must Die Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Romeo Must Die Blu-ray Movie Review

A Han by Any Other Name Would Kick as Hard

Reviewed by Michael Reuben September 12, 2012

Jet Li was first introduced to a mainstream American audience in 1998 as a formidable villain in Lethal Weapon 4, where he was the liveliest and most memorable element in an aging and weary franchise. It was only a matter of time before this graceful and charismatic Chinese martial arts star tried his hand at anchoring a Hollywood action film. Sure enough, two years after LW4, its producer Joel Silver built a movie around Jet Li, marrying kung fu to hip hop in the typical "more is more" style for which Silver is well known. Three different writers labored over a convoluted script that, when you step back and look at it, doesn't make a lot of sense, but manages to accomplish its two main goals: give Jet Li plenty of fights (under the supervision of master fight choreographer Corey Yuen), and camouflage his still problematic English as much as possible. To the latter end, the filmmakers surrounded their star with plenty of talkative characters, including a motor-mouthed comic foil played by Anthony Anderson.

To oversee this three-ring circus, Silver entrusted directing duties to Andrzej Bartkowiak, who had already worked with Jet Li as the cinematographer of LW4. One of Hollywood's most versatile cameramen, Bartkowiak had done everything from intense drama with Sidney Lumet (The Verdict) to offbeat comedy with John Huston (Prizzi's Honor) to wild action with Jan de Bont (Speed) and heavy effects work with Roger Donaldson (Dante's Peak). Bartkowiak may have been a first-time director, but he knew his way around a movie set, and he managed to bring order out of chaos, such that the loopy proceedings are over the top, the business scheme driving the plot is irrational and the villains might as well be wearing name tags. A skilled director can get away with such things, if he (or she) strikes the right tone, and Bartkowiak understood why people would come to see a Jet Li film.

The film also had something else going for it. Silver had cast a rising young singer named Aaliyah in the pivotal role of Trish O'Day, a gangster's daughter who finds herself an unwitting pawn in her father's deadly business. Aaliyah's work as an actress so impressed the producer that he planned to cast her in the two Matrix sequels then in development, but it was not to be. The following year, Aaliyah died in a plane crash at age 22. Romeo Must Die was one of just two films she completed, and the only one released during her lifetime.

Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair California, where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny . . . oh, never mind. Despite the title, very little of Romeo Must Die concerns "star-crossed lovers", although hints of affection pass between Han Sing (Jet Li) and Trish O'Day (Aaliyah), each of whom belongs to the rival crime families that have divided the waterfront between them in a California city that is supposed to be Oakland but doesn't look much like it, since the film was shot in Vancouver.

Isaak O'Day (Delroy Lindo) and Ch'u Sing (Henry O) are tough, ruthless, dispassionate "businessmen" in the Vito Corleone mode. Each of them has a son who is hot-tempered and trying, but failing, to live up to his father's expectations—or, in other words, a Sonny. Po Sing (Jon Kit Lee) takes foolhardy risks like strolling into a club in O'Day territory owned by Silk (DMX) and picking a fight. He has to be bailed out by the top Sing enforcer, Kai (Russell Wong), a martial arts expert and everything that Po is not. Isaak's son, Colin O'Day (D.B. Woodside), attempts to handle risky negotiations without informing his father or his father's chief lieutenant, Mac (Isaiah Washington). The results are not favorable.

Both of these bosses also have another child who wants no part of their criminal enterprises. Isaak O'Day's daughter, Trish, owns a combination clothing shop, salon and coffee bar called Serpentine Fire. She likes music and dancing, preferably with men who have no connection to her father, which leaves Mac out in the cold, despite his obvious interest. Ch'u Sing's older son, Han, went so far in rejecting his father's world that he became a cop. As the film opens, Han is in a Chinese prison for reasons that are not explained until much later. Circumstances will shortly require him to escape, in the first of many spectacular fight sequences.

Both Isaak O'Day and Ch'u Sing are deeply involved with a baby-faced moneyman for the NFL named Roth (Edoardo Ballerini) who plans to build a new stadium on waterfront property straddling the two bosses' territories. Seemingly random acts of violence threaten the uneasy truce between the two gangster leaders, and matters spiral out of control when the mayhem touches first one and then both families. It's a death in the Sing family that prompts Han to break out of jail and come to America, but it's pure accident that causes him to encounter Trish. They intrigue each other as strangers, and by the time they discover each other's identities, they have powerful incentives to cooperate. Among other benefits for the audience, their alliance gives Han repeated opportunities to beat down the hapless bodyguard, Maurice a/k/a "Moron" (Anderson), that Mac has assigned to Trish at her father's insistence.

As noted earlier, it's not hard to spot who's behind the nefarious machinations, but the more difficult task is figuring out the endgame. Assume control of the criminal enterprise (the one that's just been blown up and burned down so that the NFL can move in)? Take the money and run (leaving far too many loose ends behind)? Turn legit (with no skills for the job and apparently no impulse control)? It doesn't really matter, since we know Han and Trish will ultimately prevail. In this version of Romeo and Juliet, the star-crossed lovers survive, and it's everyone else who ends up on the ground at the end.

Romeo Must Die Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Canadian cinematographer Glen MacPherson (whose most recent work has been the Resident Evil franchise) took on the daunting task of serving as director Bartkowiak's DP, delivering a beautifully lit and richly colorful image that has been well-served on Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray. Blacks are deep, detail is excellent and the widely varying array of color palettes has been faithfully reproduced, from the fluorescence of the club scene to the rain-slicked streets at night to the dim recesses of the Chinese prison to the naturalism of the city by day to the stylized kung fu single-combat showdown that is the film's climactic battle. The film's grain structure appears to be natural and unfiltered, and there is no sign of artificial sharpening. Nor did I see anything in the way of compression artifacts.

Romeo Must Die Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Given the film's melding of hip hop and kung fu, it should come as no surprise that music dominates the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. Stanley Clarke composed the underscore, but the soundtrack is dominated by rap selections from Aaliyah, DMX, Fatboy Slim, The Crystal Method and others. These play with real presence and solid bass extension, and they've been carefully mixed not to overwhelm any dialogue occurring at the same time. Many of the fight effects are memorable, especially the crunching sounds created for the "ultra pain mode" in which CG-rendered bones are shown absorbing the impact of blows. Although discrete rear channel effects aren't noticeable, the mix has been sufficiently spread through the array to fill the listening space and allow the track to "breathe".

Romeo Must Die Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The extras have been ported over from Warner's 2000 DVD of Romeo Must Die. Omitted are only the "cast and crew" notes and the DVD-ROM features, which included an interactive game called "A Martial Arts Experience", the film's original website housed on disc and a Warner theatrical trailer sampler.

• HBO First Look: The Making of Romeo Must Die (SD; 1.33:1; 14:50): HBO did longer installments of "First Look" in those days, and there was time for footage from the set as well as interviews with the director, producer and stars. As one might expect, Anthony Anderson has all the funny lines.


• Inside the Visual Effects Process (SD; 1.33:1; 3:50): The focus is on what the effects people called the "ultra pain mode", in which the camera becomes an x-ray machine that observes the effect of Han's blows on the internal anatomy of his victims.


• Diary of a (Legal) Mad Bomber (SD; 1.33:1; 4:50): As the title suggests, this short focuses on the film's elaborate practical effects.


• Anatomy of a Stunt (SD; 1.33:1; 6:50): A detailed breakdown of the spectacular stunt involving two people dropping 300 feet from a high-rise building, which was really three separate stunts edited together.


• The Sound Stage (SD; 1.33:1; 1:32): Scenes from the mixing room, three weeks before release, as the sound team works down to the wire completing the soundtrack.


• Music Videos (SD; 1.33:1)
• Aaliyah: "Try Again" (3:56)
• Aaliyah featuring DMX: "Come Back in One Piece" (3:45)
• The Making of "Try Again" (4:15): Essentially an alternate version that repeats the entire song, but sets it to behind-the-scenes footage.


• Flight Zone: Short Documentaries (SD; 1.33:1): Each short focuses on a specific scene or character.
• Stairway Dance (1:34)
• Kung Fu Football (2:36)
• A Benz, a Bike, a Babe and Some Bad-Ass Kung Fu (3:46)
• The Hose (2:48)
• Master on Fire (2:22)
• Jet Li Is Han (3:34)
• Aaliyah Is Trish (5:01)
• Anthony Anderson Is Maurice (2:58)


• Trailers
• Theatrical Trailer (SD; 2.35:1, enhanced; 2:13): "In a world of vicious rivalries and violent betrayals, only one thing is certain: Romeo. Must. Die."
• International Trailer (SD; 1.78:1, enhanced; 1:45): "In a city ruled by criminals, two families have forgotten their fear of the law. But he will make them remember."

Romeo Must Die Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Romeo Must Die should be a light, fluffy popcorn movie that's enjoyable as the well-constructed but disposable entertainment it was meant to be. To a degree, though, it has been tinctured with sadness, because it's essentially the beginning and end of a promising career. (Yes, I know there's Queen of the Damned, but it hardly counts.) The character of Trish O'Day was little more than a plot function on the page, but Aaliyah gave warmth and presence to Trish beyond what was written. Movie careers are impossible to predict, but who knows what she might have accomplished? Highly recommended.