How to watch: Hulu (with Starz add-on), $3.99 on iTunes, Amazon Prime, and Youtube.
Starring: Jet Li, Morgan Freeman, Bob Hoskins, Kerry Condon
Director: Louis Leterrier
Writer: Luc Besson
Run time: 1 hour 43 minutes
Rating: R
Release date: May 13, 2005
Style: Kung Fu, Crime, Violent
More information on this film can be found on its IMDB page.
Inspiration Strikes
A few years ago, I read something that I honestly don’t know to be true. I read that acclaimed writer and director Luc Besson watched Tony Jaa’s Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior and got inspired. Besson was inspired to write a movie as hard hitting as the movie that put Thailand on the map for martial arts movies. I have no clue why he didn’t direct it. And again, I have no idea it this is a true fact… but it’s a neat story. Assuming it’s true, let’s see if Luc Besson’s vision lives up to its supposed inspiration.
Overview
Jet Li’s Unleashed was directed by Louis Leterrier and features an all-star cast of Jet Li, Morgan Freeman, Bob Hoskins, and Kerry Condon. Abducted when he was a child, Jet Li’s Danny was raised as an attack dog. He always wears a collar but when Bob Hoskin’s criminal Bart removes the collar, he sicks Danny on whoever doesn’t pay up. Danny doesn’t speak much. He is fed individual cans of food, sleeps in a basement with no bed, and only sees the outside world when he’s needed to fight. When he is found by Morgan Freeman’s Sam, he is taken in and promised a better life. But his new life is threatened when Bart comes looking for his dog.
Story Review: 6/10
I Want a Piano
As it goes with a lot of martial arts films, the story here is completely fine. It isn’t anything groundbreaking and it mostly just serves to hold epic fight scenes. However, this somewhat simple story is enhanced by a few things. Oddly, one plot device that serves the story really well is the piano. Danny is entranced by this instrument and Sam as well as his stepdaughter work and study the piano. It is later shown why Danny is so drawn to the piano and it is a heart-warming part of the story.
Basic Characters, Strong Performances
Aside from Danny, none of the characters run very deep. Antagonists are cruel and disgusting because their cruel and disgusting. The protagonists in Danny’s new family are just that base level of good, but at least they are provided some sort of back story. While none of the characters are anything complex, they are all supported by wonderful performances. Bob Hoskins is always intense, and Morgan Freeman seems like the nicest person in the world. Kerry Condon is also great with her interactions with Jet Li being some of my favorite parts of the whole movie.
Martial Arts Review: 8/10
So, we return to our initial question. Does Unleashed live up to its supposed inspiration in Ong-Bak? I think it gets as close as it possibly could. The fight scenes in Unleashed are all epic. Jet Li masterfully changes his style of Wushu to a strange animalistic freestyle. Kind of a no style is style sort of thing, I guess.
The action is few and far between with a burst at the beginning and a rush of fighting in the end. Every second of action is enthralling thanks to the electrifying ferocity of Jet Li. The most famous fight scene of the film comes in the fight to the death in an empty swimming pool. Forced to fight for money, Jet Li is pitted against a group of gothic warriors including Silvio Simac and a pre-fame Scott Adkins. This fight is brutal without being gory, but it isn’t my favorite. In the final moments of the film, the action supplies a variety of fight scenes for the viewer. You get Jet Li fighting multiple people before he has a fantastic battle with Mike Lambert. The two face off with weapons, in close quarters, and with flashy kicks. This fight has so much to offer in terms of choreography.
The one thing this fight is missing, just like every other fight in the movie, is a few more minutes. Every single fight scene felt like it could use just a few more minutes. The final fight ends so abruptly that it feels a little disappointing.
Overall: 7/10
Conclusion
Jet Li’s Unleashed has a grand reputation, commonly being recognized as people’s favorite Jet Li film. This may be a bit of an exaggeration in my opinion. Unleashed is an absolutely epic film, but Jet Li’s filmography is too great to ignore his certified classics. Of all of his English-speaking films, Unleashed may have the best fight scenes; however, Kiss of the Dragon is right up there. Memorable performances bless the film, but the story doesn’t offer much outside of being a vessel for the action. If you haven’t seen Unleashed… where have you been? Go watch it. When your done, get back to us and comment your thoughts down below.
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Spoiler warning: My review may contain spoilers for plot points.
I just recently saw the film and I thought it was great, and the story was a big reason for it to me. You have a guy and all he has ever known is fighting and death and he gets introduced to the life and love he had forgotten. He’s been beaten down to a person that feels nothing and rarely thinks and he’s transformed through music and a gentle hand into a person that can can love and feel again. The single tear at the end was the culmination of the film that he is an individual again, capable of a full range of emotions. I would probably rate the story 7.5 only because the good and bad characters are so heavily contrasted and there isn’t nuance; for people are rarely all bad or all good.