An orphaned Asian boy is taken in by a British bad man who trains the child to react like a violent dog whenever released from the metal collar wrapped around his neck. You see, the baddie needs to collect on some outstanding debts, and if folks don’t want to pay, he just sics his trained attack man-beast on them. Then one day, the young boy escapes the clutches of his master, and moves in with a kind blind man and his daughter. It isn’t long before the manchild learns to embrace more out of life, but what will happen if his master returns to claim the dog/man? What ensues is plenty of ass-kicking and Jet Li…acting.
Unleashed is the best American movie Jet Li has ever made. It’s got brutal, dynamic fight scenes with real drama that challenges Lee as an actor and audiences expecting nonstop fights. You get your action fix, but you have to earn it this time.
The fight scenes are the best Li has done in an American film. Thanks to Yuen Woo-Ping’s choreography, you’ve got grace and acrobatics mixed with story progression. The multi-fight where Danny doesn’t want to kill becomes the biggest life or death twist of the film. Fights explore choreography in tight spaces and sometimes Li kicks walls and solid objects to increase his own momentum. The action incorporates the environment, spanning the entirety of its locations, not just one on one moves.
The film makes some plays on action clichés. Bart knows his standard thugs can’t take Danny, but he’s got as secret weapon. Besides, he’s not trying to beat Danny. He not only wants Danny alive, he wants him useful as a fighter.
There may be some wirework, but it’s no longer used to defy physics. Some of the fast flips and wall bounces look like Jet Li’s own work, but bravo to the wire team for blending their assistance into the action. I love anti-gravity wirework, and without it, Li’s fights can sometimes be without character. But the story themes made these fights more intense.
There are a few things you could nitpick about the movie. I wouldn’t rag on the familiar themes of rebirth, because that should always be a vital story. But some of the punches to the female fighter in particular look a bit off, but maybe that’s just me. The daughter says “no way” and “not” in her first scene to establish that she’s hip, because the French filmmakers are 10 years behind on slang. They resolve the conflict with Bart while there’s still bad guys outside, and they never go back to them.
Jet Li lets fly with his fists and feet of fury. Which is all to the good. It's the sentimental story that screenwriter Luc Besson sandwiches in between fights that induces a gag reflex."
-- Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE
C+ "Permeated with dark shadows that recall Frankenstein and The Elephant Man, Unleashed features a quite clever premise before detouring into a plot twist that should've been muzzled."
-- Bob Townsend, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
"Missing from Unleashed is every hallmark of good filmmaking."
-- Benjamin Strong, VILLAGE VOICE
3/4 "Even though the dramatic aspect doesn't quite click, it's a watchable experiment."
-- Lisa Rose, NEWARK STAR-LEDGER
"It’s the same stuff that as we always get where like the henchman come up to him one by one." -- Richard Roeper, EBERT & ROEPER
"Auds craving for a mix of full-bore, Droog-style ultraviolence and shameless sentimentality made palatable by name thesps will find what they want in Jet Li showcase [Unleashed]."
-- Lisa Nesselson, VARIETY
2/4 "The insult in Unleashed comes not so much in having Li act like a dog but in refusing to let him be a man."
-- Wesley Morris, BOSTON GLOBE
2.5/4 "Unleashed, which swiftly works its way to an over-the-top climax, is top-grade hokum. That's a compliment."
-- Lou Lumenick, NEW YORK POST
2/4 "It was only after [Li] came to America to do his high-flying thing that he was stripped of his personality. Here he gets stripped of his dignity as well."
-- Terry Lawson, DETROIT FREE PRESS
