Jet Li (“Lethal Weapon 4”, “Cradle 2 The Grave”) stars in this action-packed martial arts film that also delivers some laughs. “Romeo Must Die” is good for those looking for light-hearted entertainment.

With the title and the premise of a black gang and a Chinese gang in the middle of the war, I thought this would become a twist on “Romeo And Juliet” but it really isn’t. After his brother is murdered (supposedly by the black gang), Han Sing (Li) escapes his Hong Kong prison so he can go to America to find who killed his brother. While he’s doing that, he makes friends with the black gang’s boss’ daughter Trish (Aaliyah) and the two then discover the real reason behind the feud.

Jet Li is incredible at martial arts, there is no denying that but sadly, some of his spectacular stunt work is ruined via the inclusion of a few pointless C.G.I. shots. Fortunately, he’s doing the work most of the time. This is unlike in movies such as “The Tuxedo”, which quite frankly hid Jackie Chan’s amazing abilities. Some laughs are generated by a character named Maurice (Anthony Anderson “Transformers”). The other characters are not anything special.

“Romeo Must Die” suffers from two big problems: 1. There are a few too many fatalities in the film, which lowers its generally light-hearted vibe. 2. The inclusion of the special effects doesn’t help the film in any way and will only turn some martial arts fans away from this film. The fight scenes are creative and there are some amusing moments on the positive side. The acting isn’t anything special and the plot is standard but I feel the movie has got it where it counts the most. If you like martial arts movies and you can get passed the few C.G.I. shots then you’ll be satisfied with “Romeo Must Die”.