`Romeo Must Die' Flies On the Strength of Jet Li

The guy already is something else.

As long as the Chinese martial arts star is in action, ``Romeo Must Die'' is an eyeful. There are ``The Matrix''-style flights-of-fancy fighting -- and that's no accident in this cross-cultural kung fu extravaganza.

Li is a phenomenon. His flying feet figure in all the action strategically spotted throughout this movie -- and there are several surprise shocks as well -- but my favorite stunt occurs when Li hangs by a necktie out a window several stories up. The necktie is still attached to the throat of a loudmouth Li had warned he would get.

On other occasions, Li is strung up by one leg with his hands manacled and nonetheless manages to fight off five prison guards; he slips the belt off an attacking gang member and uses it against him before back-flipping from one level of a staircase to another; and a comic pickup game of football turns into an excuse for some beautiful flying action.

Longtime cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak is the first-time director, but the key credit belongs to producer Joel Silver, who also produced ``The Matrix.'' The family resemblance shows. When Li rises in a long leap and plants kicks on four opponents in a row, it is a ``Matrix'' moment.

Also amazing are quick, bone- crunching X-ray shots of Li's victims, a variation on the inside-the- body flashes of the damage inflicted in ``Three Kings.''

Li is an outside-the-law hero who even smokes. He plays a Hong Kong policeman named Han who took a fall to protect his crime-syndicate family and ended up in prison. He escapes and comes to Oakland, where his clan has settled, to avenge his dead brother.

``Romeo Must Die'' is a variation on the Shakespearean warring clans love story, with Chinese and African American mobsters vying for control of the Oakland waterfront (where a new football stadium is to be built, but never mind). After some establishing shots in San Francisco, what they call Oakland never quite gels. The flat, gray light of Vancouver is a giveaway, and a funny-looking bridge is the clincher.

At first glance, the rival Chinese and African American clans might seem a plausible substitute for Shakespeare's Capulets and Montagues in ``Romeo and Juliet,'' but it's a stretch to squeeze the plot into this framework. After too many sidetracks, a viewer may wonder why they bothered. It becomes someone's ``concept.'' Straight-ahead action would have been more than sufficient.

While it's easy to see how Li has become an international star in his Hong Kong action films (``Shaolin Temple'' and ``Once Upon a Time in China'' and their sequels) and he was an imposing villain in Mel Gibson's ``Lethal Weapon 4,'' he is more than a martial arts champion, albeit a legitimate one. In ``Romeo Must Die,'' he can be playful, soulful, menacing, self-mocking (on one occasion he pretends to be a deliveryman), but he is not the great lover. The ``Romeo and Juliet'' character he most resembles is Romeo's high- spirited, mercurial buddy Mercutio, but I guess ``Mercutio Must Die'' wouldn't fly.

The Juliet character, Trish O'Day (!), is played by pop singer Aaliyah. The daughter of waterfront boss Isaac O'Day (effectively played by Delroy Lindo of ``The Cider House Rules''), who wants to go straight, she jumps into a cab Han has boosted, and the two are off and running. If the lovers are not exactly star-crossed, she at least has a refreshing touch of arrogance, which gives the character some spunk. There's no question she falls for his moves.

Li in action is what this film must be about (and it's too bad it ducks an opportunity to let him dance). Han doesn't use a gun, but at one point he does pick up a water cannon. The scene starts to seem pointless until Li flashes the cut-off hose as a weapon. The final showdown not only sets off sparks -- and has Li emerging from the flames -- it is spine-tingling when the audience realizes those ungodly screams are his.

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This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle