A Dope Beat to Step To: Aaliyah and Jet Li in Romeo Must Die

I like thinking about those lightning-in-a-bottle films, capturing the electric charisma between two performers who, due to tragic circumstances, never got to collaborate again. Think River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves in My Own Private Idaho. Tupac and Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice. On that bittersweet list belongs Aaliyah and Jet Li in Romeo Must Die. What a curious pairing! And God, are they good together. They both came to Romeo at the apex of their careers but from decidedly different paths. 

Only 20 at the time of filming, Aalyiah was already R&B/Pop royalty; a trendsetting icon since her teens, her songs, music videos, and style were a fixture of late-90s pop culture. Her video for “Are You That Somebody,” which MTV rightly played on an endless loop in 1998, rewired the circuitry of my young, impressionable brain. Aaliyah’s voice, charisma, and presence were both earthy and something close to cosmic. In her biography of the singer, Kathy Iandoli makes note of “the most magical part of Aaliyah: she felt abstract and yet tangible at the same time.” Romeo was Aaliyah’s film debut, first starring role, and next step in an already piping hot career. 

Li had been a titan of Hong Kong cinema for the better part of two decades, first breaking out with 1982’s Shaolin Temple. His formidable prowess as a martial artist combined with a deceptively sweet face made for a striking presence. In his best films, Li’s boyish features could flip on a time to a barely-controlled, seething fury. In his worst films, he’s still never less than transfixing. Li was prodigiously busy in the 90s - his beloved Once Upon a Time in China films only the tip of the iceberg - having starred in nearly 20 features before making his Hollywood debut in 1998’s Lethal Weapon 4. This was not the most auspicious “introduction” to Western audiences, but Li makes an impression because Jet Li always makes an impression. He was well-positioned to take the lead of Romeo Must Die, a starring vehicle better suited to his strengths, with a costar ready to match and elevate his game.

Admittedly, Romeo Must Die is a hilariously specific time capsule of early-aughts action style. We’re firmly in a post-Matrix territory, with hardly a fight scene not enhanced with distracting CGI or ostentatious wirework. The plot mechanics–two warring mobster factions in Oakland, California, one Black, the other Chinese–is pure pulp, although not as racially fraught as you might fear. The R&B and hip hop-infused soundtrack is aggressively 2000. “Dated” need not be a pejorative, however. This is also a sturdy, mid-budget, major studio crime drama, the kind that we once took for granted, the kind that holds up quite well nearly 25 years later. Unpretentious craftsmanship goes a long way. 

There are multiple frameworks through which to view and appreciate Romeo Must Die. It’s a Jet Li showcase. It’s an Aaliyah showcase. It’s a Hong Kong-inspired Hollywood action yarn typical of the era. It’s a deceptively nuanced crime family drama, confidently centering Black- and Chinese-American characters. One could even include this as a piece of the turn-of-the-millennium wave of modern Shakespeare adaptations that were all the rage. And best of all: none of these ingredients work in competition with one another. They’re all operating in an entertaining tandem, not unlike the two leads. 

Jet Li and Aaliyah are Han and Trish, respectively. He’s a fish-out-of-water Hong Konger investigating his brother’s death and father’s crime empire. She’s an independent business owner attempting to distance herself from her father’s crime empire. “Two houses, both alike in dignity,” yadda yadda. Aaliyah and Li’s first scene together - bantering and lightly flirting in a taxi - immediately, effortlessly establishes their energy, and it’s infectious. Their chemistry is fun, warm, playful, and comfortably sexy without overplaying it. The film wisely has no interest in positioning the older, established Li over Aaliyah, the ostensible ingénue of the pair. He may be the martial arts superhero, but she’s the Princess of R&B. As far as the film is concerned, they’re on equal footing, as characters and as stars. This is crucial. They consistently play up to each other, never down. 

The film’s centerpiece is a fight sequence of choreographed delight. Li finds himself going hand-to-hand with a formidable female opponent, and he’s momentarily crippled by old-world chivalry. He doesn’t want to hit a woman. Aaliyah, with an eye roll, steps in to get his back, and in the process becomes an extension of his body, twirling, dipping, flying, and ass-kicking through the air. It’s Crouching Tiger, Fred & Ginger and it rules. In a later scene, Aaliyah, never more gorgeous, invites the shy Li to a dance floor to awkwardly groove with her, and their smiles quickly become ours. The earlier scene showcases a fight, the later a dance, but they’re both dance scenes. 

For all of this romantic energy, and all of Romeo Must Die’s comfortable adherence to genre conventions, there is a notable lack of a climatic kiss between Aaliyah and Li. How this (didn’t) come to be has taken on the level of mild controversy. Some accounts claim that the kiss was filmed but didn’t test well with audiences, possibly stemming from regrettable racial hang-ups. Another explanation says the kiss came directly after a supporting character meets a violent end, and the juxtaposition was deemed awkward. I’m sure that kiss, as filmed, was a good one, but that it didn’t make it in the final cut is beside the point. Not a person watching Romeo Must Die is blind to the unadulterated delight that Aaliyah and Jet Li take in each other’s presence. The movie, as it stands, is enough. It has to be. 

Aaliyah died a year after Romeo’s release. It still hurts to think about it. She was so young, so luminous, just getting started. Queen of the Damned was released posthumously. That and Romeo are her cinematic legacy. She was attached to The Matrix Reloaded before her death. Who knows what else she could have done. Jet Li’s Hollywood career enjoyed healthy years following the success of Romeo, although he rarely had an English-speaking costar who matched him like Aaliyah. 

I’m a sucker for simple, elegant final shots, and Romeo Must Die fades out with grace: Jet Li and Aaliyah walking off into the night together, hand in hand, then arm in arm, her classic track “Try Again” playing them off. I cannot watch that without a huge smile on my face and a little lump in my throat, mourning her loss but giving thanks that these two beautiful badasses got to dance together. 

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