“In Many Ways, I Agree”: Jet Li Admitted Fans Had a Point About Romeo Must Die’s Disappointing Action

Romeo Must Die (2000) is an important film in Jet Li’s career. Not because it’s an incredible piece of filmmaking or genre-defining masterpiece, but because it was his first leading role in a Hollywood production after establishing himself as a superstar of Hong Kong action cinema. Li is back in the spotlight, too: after six years away from the screen, he returned in Blades of the Guardians (2026).

Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak, whose filmography includes movies such as Doom and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, Romeo Must Die sees Li share the screen with the late singer Aaliyah in a radical retelling of Romeo and Juliet. While it received mostly negative reviews at the time of its release [34% on Rotten Tomatoes], it made $91 million from a budget of $25 million and went on to become a cult classic. Say what you want about it, but this movie features many violent delights.

Li, though, was fully aware of the film’s initial reception and didn’t shy away from the criticism. In fact, he took to his website’s forum to speak directly to his fans about the film and what had happened.

One of the biggest complaints about Romeo Must Die was how the action paled in comparison to Li’s previous films, and the action superstar addressed this point directly. “In many ways, I agree with what you have to say and I commend you for making the effort to do so,” Li wrote. “However, I want to take it one step further and explain to you why things might have worked out the way they did.

“First off, you must understand that in my past movies in Hong Kong, I assumed, for the most part, all creative control of the production. The schedule, the budget, who was hired and who was not – all came under my oversight. That was why I was able to determine which fight scenes would be shot, the choreograph details, the camerawork, and most importantly, the editing. In Hollywood, however, since I’m a relative newcomer and don’t possess as much clout as I do back in Hong Kong, my creative control over the project is limited.”

Remember, at this point in Li’s career, he had only done Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) in America. Even though he had been a star of action cinema abroad, the powers that be in Hollywood didn’t know how American audiences would react to his films.

“In Romeo Must Die, whenever my martial arts team wanted an extra prop, extra funding, or extra time for a certain martial arts scene, we had to approach producers and present our case,” Li said. “It was a huge, complicated, and bureaucratic process involving many people with varied interests, the upshot of which is that not all the things we wanted were executed. Hong Kong production personnel, whether they be camera operators, editors, or wire riggers, possess a tremendous background of experience in dealing with Hong Kong style martial arts films. Hence, when they came to work on the set of Romeo Must Die, the Hollywood production scene was an unfamiliar one for them.”

Li refused to place the blame on any of the Romeo Must Die crew, though. “The hardworking American and Canadian production personnel also tried hard to adapt to our needs,” he said. “It was a learning process for both crews as they collaborated on the martial arts and action sequences. I want to emphasize that the outcome is nobody’s fault, but the natural result of having to work with many people on a big and complex project.”

Ultimately, it turned out to be a classy statement by Jet Li, who didn’t trash anybody’s work but explained the reality of the situation. In addition to this, Li revealed that if Romeo Must Die did well at the box office, Hollywood producers might have more faith in him and allow him further control of his projects.

“Much experimentation went on in Romeo Must Die,” Li concluded. “This was the first time I was exposed to computer technology, which I am eager to learn and utilize. Again my purpose in writing to you is to clarify your concerns over some parts of the movie you may not have liked. I thank you again for your opinions and for caring about the movie sufficiently to post emails and messages online.”

It’s funny to see how the passage of time works, and how the more things change, the more they stay the same. Whenever a movie comes out, the discourse around it becomes extreme – it’s either the greatest or worst thing ever released. Yet when fans look back on it after a few years, the sentiments evolve. In the case of Jet Li’s Romeo Must Die, the same thing happened. To quote the Shakespeare play that inspired the movie: “Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.”

As of November 2026, Romeo Must Die is streaming free with a library card on Kanopy, and you can rent or buy it digitally on Amazon, Apple TV and Fandango at Home.