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Grade: B

Verdict: A major kick.

Details: Starring Jet Li, Russell Wong. Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak. Rated R for violence, brief nudity and some language.

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Review: Romeo, Romeo. Wherefore art thou, Romeo?

In our first meeting, he's chained and suspended upside-down by one leg from a rope in a Hong Kong prison cell, where he impressively overpowers four armed guards to make a thrilling escape.

It's not Shakespeare, but "Romeo Must Die" is a major kick.

The hip-hop action movie marks the English-language starring debut of Chinese martial arts star Jet Li. Li was the best thing about "Lethal Weapon 4," playing the formidable Asian triad leader who did some serious damage to Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.

The action star's command of the English language is superior to that of fellow Hong Kong expatriates Chow Yun-Fat and Jackie Chan. Li lacks Chow's smoldering charisma and Chan's self-effacing humor, but he makes up for it with balletic grace and dazzling skill.

In "Romeo Must Die," Li plays Han Sing, a legendary ex-cop who escapes from prison to avenge the death of his younger brother in a war between black and Asian gangs in Oakland. The title is inspired by the relationship between his character and Trish O'Day (R&B singer Aaliyah, in her film debut), the scions of the warring crime lords.

But there's no romance between the chaste pair, who team up to find the killer of Han's brother, Po (Jon Kit Lee). The kinetic crowd-pleaser is focused on supercharged action sequences. Still, the Romeo thing makes for a great title.

The simple plot involves a gangland land grab by opposing crime bosses Ch'u Sing (Henry O) and Isaak O'Day (Delroy Lindo), who are allied in a shaky but lucrative deal to bring an NFL franchise to the Oakland waterfront. Han and Trish's attempt to determine who is behind a mysterious, escalating series of murders on both sides of the cultural divide keeps viewers engaged between shootouts and Li's jaw-dropping fight scenes.

The action star doesn't use firearms. Instead he makes lethal weapons of everyday items such as zip strips, belts and a firehose.

The expertly choreographed fight scenes include several hilarious sequences that pit Han against Trish's bodyguards, led by a comical heavyweight named Maurice (Anthony Anderson). The best of these is a pickup football game that gives new meaning to "contact sport."

Li appears to defy gravity during the brutal finale, at one point running across the chests of four standing foes. In truth, he's suspended on invisible wires — a trick producer Joel Silver ("Lethal Weapon," "Die Hard") also employed his last film, "The Matrix."

Cinematographer-turned-first-time-director Andrzej Bartkowiak delivers the action with style, but his film lacks the hard-boiled intensity of those by Hong Kong action titans Tsui Hark and John Woo.

There's too much character exposition in John Jarrell and Eric Bernt's screenplay, forcing the players to reveal themselves and their murky motives through monologues.

Our Romeo, on the other hand, lets his astonishing physical prowess do the talking.

— Dave Larsen, Cox News Service

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