Kung Fu meets Hip-Hop meets Shakespearean tragedy. Some incredible visuals and an implausible story line.

The film opens with a noir driving scene that lands us into an Oakland, California night club, owned by Silk (DMX). Po Sing, (Jon Kit Lee) son of Chinese crime boss Ch'u Sing (Henry O), is there with his girlfriend. Amidst quick cuts that include a little Asian Lesbian action, we learn that Silk's place is really the turf of a rival gang, led by Isaak O'Day (Delroy Lindo). Fighting between the Blacks and Chinese breaks out, and before long, Ch'u Sing's enforcer Kai (Russell Wong) makes his super cool entrance, taking charge of the proceedings. The brawl ends when Silk appears with a machine gun.

Unfortunately, the next morning Po Sing is found dead.

Isaak offers his condolences to Ch'u Sing, and assures him that he had nothing to do with it. Fearing the worst, he instructs his chief lieutenant Mac (Isaiah Washington) to watch his kids Trish (Aaliyah) and Colin (D.B. Woodside) 24 hours a day.

Even with the bad blood, the two gangs must keep the peace to avoid screwing up a mega deal being arranged by shady developer Vincent Roth (Edoardo Ballerini). Between the two of them, the gangs control Oakland's waterfront, the proposed home of a new football stadium. Jointly, they must deliver all the deeds in the area to Roth, and are not above using violence to get their way.

Word of Po Sing's death reaches his brother Han Sing (Jet Li), who is a former Hong Kong cop, imprisoned there, unjustly taking the rap for his criminal father and brother. In a never before attempted martial arts stunt, Han fights off five brutal prison guards while suspended upside down.

Han escapes and makes his way to Oakland, where he encounters Trish and her bumbling bodyguard Maurice (Anthony Anderson). Unlike her brother, Trish wants no part of the family criminal enterprise, but like Han, is gradually being dragged into the looming gang war.

Trish and Han, of course, are the star-crossed lovers, but there is little screen chemistry between them.

Mac, who has his eyes on Trish, and bigger and better things in crime, resents her fondness for Han, and arranges some punishment for him, via a football game, that instead leaves the home boys in the dirt.

The body count starts to mount with small landowners being killed off, and Colin and a friend thrown from a waterfront high rise in an amazing stunt. This is followed by a motorcycle chase, where one of the assassins is revealed to be a woman (Françoise Yip), who puts up a terrific fight. Since Han won't hit a girl, he defeats the killer by animating Trish's body. Great choreography!

The action moves toward its climax as Isaak and Ch'u meet with Roth at the Oakland Men's Club. While Isaak attempts to turn tables on Roth, Mac enters with Trish as a hostage. Mac shoots Isaak, and admits to killing Colin. Han dispatches the bad guys in this setting, but now rushes to Ch'u's headquarters, where Kai is waiting for him.

Sure enough, it was Kai who killed Po Sing, with Ch'u's blessing!

The inevitable showdown between Han and Kai takes place, replete with fire-filled braziers. A bizarre letdown, and ridiculous error in editing, has this fight followed by Han and Trish departing the scene--completely ignored by the legions of arriving police.

But, you don't go to these pics for the story. The action is great, although more of it would have been even better. Let's hope that Jet Li gets an improved vehicle next time out.