|
Just
to remind you, Rumble is the spaghetti Kung-Fu movie that
propelled Jackie Chan to western fame. It is based on a gang theme
with lots of "boffo" Jackie Chan comedic-style fighting
in which you hardly notice the serious injuries and fatalities
that the bad guys suffer. Too many characters, lightweight plot,
and less than serious acting. "Enter the Dragon" is said
to be Bruce Lee’s most popular movie. It is a serious film
displaying Lee’s form, philosophy and delivery. The moves in
Dragon are stunning, while the plot and acting are somewhat
ludicrous.
After
being saturated with Kung-Fu fighting, I fired up the VCR and
settled in to watch Romeo. The first thing I noticed is that Romeo
was a film that took itself seriously (probably its first
mistake). This wasn’t going to be an attempt at copying the
light and comedic style of Jackie Chan, but rather a run at Bruce
Lee’s crown.
Set
in San Francisco, two rival factions appear to be at war with each
other for the control of four square miles of waterfront. These
two factions, the Black and Chinese mafias, set about killing off
the heirs of their enemies in order to gain the upper hand. Han
Sing (Jet Li), the son of the Chinese Don, escapes from prison in
Hong Kong and makes his way back to San Francisco to find that his
brother has been murdered. In the ensuing attempt to stay alive,
Sing forges an alliance with Trish O’Day (Aaliyah), the daughter
of the Black Don and together they uncover the plot behind the
murders.
Perhaps
the best thing one could say about Romeo is that it’s a noble
attempt at not being a B movie, but it never develops enough of a
punch or a kick. While I don’t consider Bronx or Dragon to be A
movies either, the list keeping Romeo out of the running is quite
a bit longer than for either of these two classics.
(To
top of second column)
|
First
of all, the plot in Romeo is paper thin. If it were ice on a lake, you
wouldn’t dare put a foot out on it, because you can tell at first
glance that it won’t even support its own weight. There are dangling
subplots galore, unresolved and unexplained presuppositions, and the
whole film is so predictable you can even guess what the next line
will be before it is delivered. I even took a little nap for a few
minutes, only to wake up to find that I hadn’t missed a thing. They
didn’t waste any money on a script.
I
admit that the acting in both Bronx and Dragon is poor, but Jackie
Chan is funny and Bruce Lee is fantastic and intriguing. Jet Li can’t
act, isn’t funny and can’t even deliver lines. I had to turn up
the sound every time he spoke, because he doesn’t speak up. And what
about his face? He only has one expression, and that seems to be
either boredom or pain. Jet looks like he is about 17 in this film,
and that only makes it harder to take him seriously.
The
single most-dissatisfying thing about the movie has to be the fight
scenes. Perhaps the director noticed that they were lacking and
decided to spice it up a little by putting in some special effects
that were actually stupid (they made me laugh). At times, the fighters
hung suspended in the air (you could almost see the wires) while they
repositioned themselves to kick each other again and again before
touching the floor. Add to that the special effect of having instant
X-ray to see the internal damage to the victim’s bones – an effect
that was too corny and too quick to add anything to the film.
Jet
Li’s moves are fast and furious, well delivered, seemingly
effective, but they don’t translate into a style that makes for much
of a film (more like Sammo Huang than Jackie or Bruce).
I don’t
recommend this film. Unlike Bronx or Dragon, I won’t watch it again,
and out of sympathy give it 1½ stars out of five.
[midge]
midge@lincolndailynews.com
|
"Romeo
Must Die"