Romeo Must Die

Loosely based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Romeo Must Die centers on Chinese and Black gangs. Though many characters could be considered stereotypes -- Black men are mostly gang members, and Chinese characters do martial arts -- they have a wide variety of roles as business owners, prison guards, clubbers, kids at a park, etc. Very few movies (much less romances) star Black and Asian characters, making Romeo Must Die part of a tiny handful of films to do so, including 1997's Cinderella, Mississippi Masala, and The Sun Is Also a Star. Trish is the only female character in a leading main role, but she's clever and independent, yet protected by men and treated as precious -- which is counter-stereotypical for Black women, as most Hollywood titles prefer to portray Black women as inhumanly strong, both emotionally and physically. Small missteps include a few Hong Kong scenes dubbed in Mandarin when characters should be speaking Cantonese, a scene where Han uses a fire hose on Black men (which recalls police brutality against civil rights activists), and a same-sex kiss between women that's clearly intended for straight male viewers (a man watches them kiss). The film comes from a White Polish male director, Andrzej Bartkowiak, but overall, its iconic cast (which includes Delroy Lindo, Aaliyah, Jet Li, DMX, and Russell Wong) makes Romeo Must Die an inclusive snapshot of the early 2000s.

Tons of action violence and brandished guns, plus shootings (point-blank killings, assault rifles shot into the air, etc.) -- nearly all of it bloodless. A man hangs dead from a tree, characters crash through the windows of a skyscraper and fall into a river (next shown in a body bag with dried cuts on face), characters fight with various weapons (including a walking stick, broken bottles, bats, belts, etc.) and use martial arts. Brief glimpse of a pile of dead bodies. A high-speed car/motorcycle chase with automatic handguns ends with someone falling and being impaled on a wooden beam. Prison guards in riot gear rush a man and beat him with batons, then hang him upside down from a ceiling with the intent to torture. (The captured man fights his way out, with bone-breaking X-ray visuals and sound effects.) A boat explodes; a man burns his hand and screams as his bloodied palm is graphically scratched by his opponent. A man kills himself off-screen; a gunshot is heard. Expect sad scenes as characters grieve over the deaths of loved ones.

Characters at a nightclub kiss with tongue; a woman's dress strap is pulled down as they dance; her bare breast and nipple are briefly visible. In another scene, a woman appears in an open silk robe, wearing a bra and boy shorts underneath. Main characters flirt and briefly hold hands. A man's pants drop during a fight, revealing shiny briefs (played for comedy). A walking stick knob is shaped like a naked pin-up girl.

"F--k" is used once. Plenty of uses of "s--t" and "ass." Less frequently, characters also say "bitch," "hell," "moron," and "goddamn," and use "God" and "Jesus Christ" as exclamations. A Chinese gang leader calls Isaak's gang "the Blacks."

Characters drink beer, wine, cognac, and cocktails and smoke cigarettes (including the main character, once). Characters roll weed and smoke joints in one scene -- they're quickly met with consequences. The main character finds a hidden compartment with white powder -- cocaine implied -- and blows it away.