"Romeo Must Die" may take its inspiration from Shakespeare, but in a Jet Li martial-arts action thriller it's more likely that Li, as the hero, will be the last man standing. So don't take that title too seriously, though certainly there are plenty of characters who are most eager to see Li removed from the scene, permanently.

The scene happens to be the Oakland waterfront, four choice acres controlled by Delroy Lindo's Isaak O'Day and Henry O's Ch'u Sing. The African American and the Hong Kong…