Word: li
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Romeo doesn't touch it either. But it is trying something clever. In a movie loaded with African-American vibes, it wants to make Jet Li the first Asian black star. Maybe it'll work. At an early screening of the film, some black teenagers watched Li total his opponents in the football scrimmage scene. As he nimbled over the goal line, a girl shouted a rude compliment: "That nigger's hot!" Jet Li, welcome to the brotherhood...
With Romeo, producer Joel Silver has bet that Li, like Jackie Chan in Rush Hour, can click with urban moviegoers if he is paired with black actors and backed by an assaultive hip-hop score. As Han, scion of a Chinese family at war with a black clan in San Francisco, Li must juggle ethnic rivalries and ethical responsibilities--in other words, kick everybody's ass, without regard to race or kinship. Han's only ally is the black kingmaker's daughter Trish O'Day (R.-and-B. thrush Aaliyah), in a romance so tepid it is consummated with...
...action scenes designed by Hong Kong master Corey Yuen (who worked with Li in seven previous films), the star shows the world audience some of the moves that brought him to Hollywood. He hangs by one foot from a rope in a Hong Kong prison cell, and presto, four guards are zapped in- to electric skeletons. He twirls a water hose to subdue some villains, spins in the air to kick five guys at once, strips the belt off one oaf and hog-ties him with it, and goes spectacularly hand-to-hand with Asian-American lookers Russell Wong...
...Li makes it in the U.S., it will be the third movie industry he has conquered. On the mainland, he created such a sensation as the teenage star of the Shaolin Temple films that thousands of admirers made pilgrimages to his home. In Hong Kong, starting with the hit series Once Upon a Time in China, Li proved himself a compelling opposite to Jackie Chan. His persona mixes gravity with grace; he is both morally grounded and Jet propelled...
...Li in repose is a cool star; Li in action is a hot one. In The New Legend of Shaolin, he fights off a dozen attackers with his infant son strapped to his back. His martial poses have classic beauty and power. His spin-kicks flout all laws of physics; there's nothing like Jet Li in a foot fight. His best Hong Kong movies (such as Fong Sai Yuk and My Father Is Hero) offer buoyant, daredevil action comedy of the kind no other national cinema even tries to touch...