Herald rating: * *
Running time: 110 mins
Rental: Today
Review: Ewan McDonald
West Side Story danced Romeo And Juliet into the Bronx, China Girl across the river to Little Italy, Baz Luhrmann to somewhere like Venice Beach. So why shouldn't Jet Li make a martial arts version in Oakland?
Li plays Han Sing, former
Hong Kong cop taking the rap for a crime he didn't commit. When his brother is killed in a dance-club rumble, Sing breaks out to travel to America and avenge him. In Oakland, he meets Trish O'Day (singer Aaliyah), and they fall in love while she helps him look for the killer.
Surprise! Her father Isaak (Delroy Lindo) knows more than he should, and soon the lovers are in the middle of a war between Chinese and black factions trying to buy up the waterfront for a new sports stadium. Local property owners are asked to sell, and when they refuse, are murdered, torched, blown up or have their faces stuck into vats of live crabs.
Which, of course, provides just the excuse for lots of chop socky (with much help from the special effects guy). Not much plot, not much dialogue. But hey, that's not what you paid your $7 for, is it?
