| 80 |
Los Angeles Times
Has a great look and an edgy feel, along with some broad swaths of humor.
|
| 75 |
New York Daily News
This is not for the Merchant-Ivory crowd, but action fans will feel their pulses quicken.
|
| 70 |
LA Weekly
Doesn't even come close to being a good movie, but it is a lot of fun.
|
| 70 |
Dallas Observer
May not have the best script in the world, but it brings Jet Li to the big screen in a way that all action junkies, not just the video-store geeks, will appreciate.
|
| 70 |
Rolling Stone
Who needs iambic pentameter when you have Jet Li around?
|
| 70 |
TNT RoughCut
Ryon Justin Horne
Although Romeo Must Die sets new standards for action films, the action drowns to a predictable and ridiculous plot.
|
| 70 |
Salon.com
A canny, ingeniously crafted guilty pleasure.
|
| 70 |
Film.com
The gravity-defying harness maneuvers popularized in the U.S. with "The Matrix" -- ... look really cool, but seem out of place in a realistic gang-style action movie.
|
| 67 |
Entertainment Weekly
Doesn't take advantage of its own possibilities, either as a hard-boiled gangland battle or as a soft-boiled, interracial Shakespearean love story.
|
| 63 |
USA Today
A plodding, play-it-safe rendition of "The Family Feud."
|
| 63 |
Boston Globe
The reason to sit through its uninspired, formulaic moves, however, is its half-dozen spectacular fight sequences.
|
| 60 |
Chicago Reader
The hinted romance, featuring Aaliyah, makes for some decent drama and some fine comedy.
|
| 60 |
Time
Doesn't touch (Li's Hong Kong movies). But it is trying something clever.
|
| 58 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
In fact, when not kicking butt, (Li)'s kind of a blank spot in the center of the screen.
|
| 50 |
Washington Post
Based on "Romeo and Juliet" the way a martini is "based" on vermouth.
|
| 50 |
Charlotte Observer
Aspires to rise above the conventional drugs-and-action genre and succeeds about half the time.
|
| 50 |
Baltimore Sun
Just don't think about what's going on, and you should be OK.
|
| 50 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Li is a phenomenon.
|
| 50 |
The New York Times
Sadly, if this movie was a fight, they'd have stopped it.
|
| 49 |
Mr. Showbiz
Li's light touch and explosive fighting skills deserve a better vehicle than this overcooked pot of New Jack suey.
|
| 42 |
Portland Oregonian
To be fair, the film is trash and doesn't aspire to very much, but it's bad trash -- inept -- and that really isn't forgivable.
|
| 40 |
Austin Chronicle
The fight scenes are splendidly choreographed...but they're shot in that grating, thoroughly American flashcut style that leaves you wondering just who the hell is hitting who.
|
| 40 |
TV Guide
Then there's the utter lack of sexual chemistry between Li and Aaliyah, sucking all the urgency out of the relationship between the star-crossed lovers.
|
| 38 |
Chicago Sun-Times
(Li)'s scenes are so clearly computer-aided that his moves are about as impressive as Bugs Bunny doing the same.
|
| 38 |
San Francisco Examiner
Between fights, the film can't even rely on the luxury of Lindo, Isaiah Washington, Russell Wong, Rottweiler rapper DMX or the scary Henry O as Han's father to make it watchable - the dialogue is wreaking more havoc than Li.
|
| 30 |
Village Voice
The wall-to-wall rap score is as kinetic as the acrobatic fight choreography, and nothing else matters.
|
| 25 |
Miami Herald
So needlessly convoluted, so crammed with subplots within subplots, it simply forgets about its gangland "Romeo & Juliet" premise.
|
