Martial arts superstar Jet Li reteams with French writer-director Luc Besson (KISS OF THE DRAGON) in this psychological action film shot in Glasgow, Scotland. Li stars as Danny, a human attack dog for a powerful mobster he calls Uncle Bart (Bob Hoskins, looking resplendent in white suit after white suit). When Bart and his men go out on their collection runs, they bring Danny, who has been trained since he was a child to fight to kill. When Bart takes Danny's collar off and commands, "Get 'im," Danny goes to work, an unstoppable machine, using the only weapon he knows: his body. But when a turf war ends up in bloody carnage, Danny escapes and is taken in by a kind family consisting of blind piano tuner Sam (Morgan Freeman) and his teenage stepdaughter, Victoria (Kerry Condon). They teach Danny how to be a real person, to be able to act civilly in society. They also allow Danny to explore his love of the piano, where a specific tune haunts him, bringing up repressed memories from his long-ago past. Just when Danny thinks he has escaped from his former life, he is pulled back in, but he is no longer the trained dog Bart thinks he is. Written by Besson and directed by Louis Letterier (THE TRANSPORTER), UNLEASHED is a gripping, heart-wrenching film fueled by the music of Massive Attack and a relentless visual style. And having taken acting lessons for the first time in his career, Li more than holds his own in the presence of such masters as Hoskins and Freeman.
(38 votes)
2.
On and beneath the meanest streets of Glasgow, fiery gangster Bart (Bob Hoskins) is merciless with debtors, would-be rivals, and anyone else to whom he takes even a passing dislike. How does Bart maintain his chokehold? Through his unwitting enforcer Danny (Jet Li), who he has “raised” since boyhood. Danny has been kept as a near-prisoner by his “Uncle” Bart; trained to attack and, if necessary, kill. Danny knows little of life, except the brutal existence that Bart has so crudely and cruelly fashioned for him.
But when Danny has a chance encounter with soft-spoken blind piano tuner Sam (Morgan Freeman), he senses true kindness and compassion for the first time and experiences the transforming power of music. When a sudden gangland coup separates Danny from Bart and his mob, Danny is at last away from the underworld. He takes refuge with Sam and his spunky teenaged stepdaughter Victoria (Kerry Condon). Sam and Victoria open their home and hearts to Danny, who begins to envision a new future for himself. However, the mob will not give up its prize pupil so easily, and Danny must soon fight again, and fight back, to protect his new family and bury his troubled past.
(32 votes)
3.
Luc Besson wrote and directed the stylish thrillers La Femme Nikita and The Professional; though he didn't direct Unleashed, the script has his trademark fusion of outrageous sentimentality and over-the-top violence. Hong Kong action superstar Jet Li (Romeo Must Die, Hero) stars as Danny, a man raised to be a brutal attack dog by a nasty gangster named Bart (Bob Hoskins, Mona Lisa)--when Bart removes Danny's collar, Danny pulverizes everyone in the room. But a chance encounter with a blind piano tuner (Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby) reveals to Danny the possibility of a less brutal life, and when a retaliation attack gives him the chance to escape, he does--but Bart won't let him go that easily. The fighting in Unleashed is effectively jolting; Li and fight choreographer Yuen Wo Ping (The Matrix) have purposefully stripped away the smoothness of most movie combat (especially with a genuine martial artist like Li) with raw, unnerving results, especially when juxtaposed with the sweet and earnest scenes of Li regaining his humanity with Freeman and his step-daughter (Kerry Condon). This freewheeling cocktail of bloody noses and ice-cream cones isn't for everyone, but fans of both Besson and Li will leave satisfied. --Bret Fetzer
(28 votes)
4.
Serve No Master. Martial-arts superstar Jet Li delivers a break-out performance in the gripping, action-packed story about a man raised from childhood by a ruthless crime boss (Academy Award® nominee Bob Hoskins) who becomes a violent killing machine. When a blind piano tuner (Academy Award® winner Morgan Freeman) takes him in, Danny (Li) tries to start a new life, but his brutal past follows him, forcing him to fight back. Featuring breathtaking fight choreography by Yuen Wo Ping (The Matrix and Kill Bill: Vols. 1 & 2).
(26 votes)
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