Romeo Must Die (2000)
Romeo Must Die is a 2000 American action film directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak in his directorial debut, featuring fight choreography by Corey Yuen, and starring Jet Li and Aaliyah in her film debut which also marked the sole film released during her lifetime. It follows a Chinese former police officer travelling to the United States in order to avenge his brother’s death. He also falls in love with a rival mobster’s beautiful daughter as they struggle together against both the Chinese and the American mobs. The film’s plot is loosely related to William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet but transplanted to contemporary Oakland, California, with the feuding families becoming African-American and Chinese-American gangs.
Frustrated about the lack of originality in Hollywood action films, producer Joel Silver built the film around Hong Kong action films. He cast established Hong Kong film actor Jet Li, following his role in Lethal Weapon 4. R&B singer Aaliyah was cast, and sung the soundtrack’s lead single “Try Again” which topped the US Billboard Hot 100.
Romeo Must Die was released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on March 24, 2000. Despite mixed critical reviews, it was a box office success, grossing $91 million against a production budget of $25 million. The film was also considered Li’s American film breakthrough and Aaliyah’s acting breakthrough. Retroactively, the film has also received attention for the pairing of an Asian-American and African-American in the lead roles.
Plot.
Po Sing, the youngest son of Chinese Triad boss Ch’u Sing, is accosted by African-Americans in a nightclub in Oakland, California. He is rescued and then admonished by Kai, Ch’u’s chief lieutenant. Po leaves the club, but is found murdered the next day. Han Sing, a skilled martial artist and former police officer who has been imprisoned in Hong Kong, learns of his brother’s death and escapes. He travels to Oakland to investigate, where Ch’u is engaged in a joint business venture with Isaak O’Day, a black real estate developer and gang leader. The two have been acquiring deeds to properties along the waterfront to sell to Vincent Roth, a business magnate who plans to buy a new NFL franchise and build a stadium. Despite Ch’u’s assurances that their partnership remains intact, Isaak fears retribution following Po’s death and has his chief lieutenant,RELATED:
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Mac, place security details on his son Colin and his daughter Trish, the latter of whom refuses to be involved in her father’s illegal enterprises.
In a chance encounter, Han befriends Trish by helping her ditch her assigned security, and then discovers Po called Trish’s clothing store the day before he was killed. At his brother’s funeral, Han confronts his estranged father, blaming him for failing to protect Po after Han helped them both flee to America to escape Chinese authorities, which resulted in Han’s imprisonment. Kai informs Han that Po’s death has been the result of the escalating gang war between the Chinese and African-Americans. Meanwhile, Colin tells his father that he was supposed to meet someone at the club to discuss information that could end the war. That night, Colin and his girlfriend are murdered by an unseen assailant.
Trish and Han team up, and realize that Po wanted to show Colin a list of businesses that were either destroyed or being threatened for failing to sell their properties. The two visit one of the remaining businesses on Po’s list, but the Chinese owner and his employees have been killed. After killing the Chinese hitmen responsible, Han questions his father, who deflects suspicion by suggesting Isaak may have used outside contractors. Later, Ch’u is shown ordering the death of several other Triad bosses to acquire their territories. Trish and Han visit the last holdout on Po’s list: the nightclub where Po was last seen. The duo meet with the owner, but Mac arrives and kills him for his deed, and then abducts Trish and Han. At a remote location, Han defeats Mac’s henchmen and goes to rescue Trish.
Production.
During the late 1990s, the producer Joel Silver became annoyed that he did not see anything fresh or original in American action films. For inspiration, he turned to Hong Kong action cinema, where Jet Li was an established movie star. In addition to the influence of Hong Kong martial arts films, the production team also introduced a new visual effect technique: the presentation of martial arts fighting in X-ray vision. They initially experimented with it for a single fight scene with Jet Li and tested it in front of an American audience, which gave an overwhelmingly positive response, before using it in more action scenes throughout the film. The film’s setting is Oakland, California, but other than a few establishing shots, film production was entirely in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Principal photography began on May 3, 1999 and ended on July 23, 1999. Filming locations included Gastown, Grandview–Woodland, Vanier Park, Chinatown, Versatile Pacific Shipyards, and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.
According to the documentary The Slanted Screen, Han and Trish were supposed to have a kissing scene, which explains the title of Romeo, but this did not test well with an urban audience. Jet Li stated on his personal website that they had filmed both versions of the scene (with kiss and without), and decided to use the latter because it would be “somewhat strange and awkward” for Han to have witnessed his father’s suicide and then to come out and kiss someone.
