Movie 1: "Romeo Must Die"

...the one in which Jet Li kinda, sorta gets the girl.


Let me just say how much I love having cable. Everyday there's some new movie I haven't seen on. Shout out to Vh1 for first movie for my challenge: "Romeo Must Die".

The story is a bit of a take off on "Romeo and Juliet" (hence the name), where two young people from rival families (or gangs, as it were) fall in love. In this case, our story starts when Han (played by Jet Li) breaks out of prison in Hong Kong and flies to America to find the people who killed his brother. During his search, Han crosses paths with Trish O'Day (Aaliyah), daughter to the leader of the city's Black gang. (That's how the movie identifies them, by the way. Han's dad runs the Chinese gang, and Trish's dad runs the Black gang. Not quite as catchy as Montague and Capulet, but then again, what is?)

Let me just say I watched this for one reason: I wanted to see Jet Li punch some dudes in the face. And in the regard, the movie delivered. The fights were stylish and fast, though it was a shame that Han only fought one person who presented an actual threat to him (I'm a sucker for cool martial arts fights). My favorite scene had to be the one where Han is playing football with some of the black gang members, and after getting tackled a few times, he just kicks their asses.

That said, I didn't like anything else about this. I kept tuning the movie out because it was just so boring. The main point of the movie (being a send-up of Romeo and Juliet) suffered from the fact that Han and Trish's romance was pretty flat. They came across as good buddies as opposed to lovers. This point really hits home when you realize that they never share an intimate moment. The movie ends with a hug, for Pete's sake! As for the rest of the movie, it felt like the usual cheap gangster movie, only with a whole lot more annoying. Everyone in the movie that wasn't Han or Trish felt like a complete douche. The biggest offender being Anthony Anderson, who seems to be under the impression that yelling louder makes you funnier (it doesn't).

In the future, I'll try to make these entries more detailed and polished, but in this case, I feel there really isn't much to say. "Romeo Must Die" is bad. Don't watch it.

-Perry.