Unleashed, (or Danny The Dog), was a pretty original movie along with a nice platform for Jet Li to show off his great martial arts skills. Not only did we get to see some fast and brutal action from Li, but we got to see a bit of acting as well. Granted, it may not be hard to act like a dog, but Li pulled off some of subtleties extremely well. For example, he "fought as a dog would fight", meaning he focused on one opponent on a time, even while being beat on by others, just as a dog would. You really should watch the special features on the DVD to get an inside look on this movie.
Danny (Jet Li) is a trained fighting machine. We do not get to find out how he became so well trained or even who trained him to fight but we do get to eventually see the back story in which his "Uncle" Bart (Bob Hoskins) gets ahold of him.
Bart is a bit of a gangster or thug of some kind. He uses Danny to beat his opponents unmercifully. Anyone who does not pay what is owed to Bart gets a visit from him and his "dog". This gives the film an excuse to be a little more violent that most other martial arts films as Danny always goes straight for the jugular once Bart takes his collar off.
One of Bart's many rivals eventually makes a move to take out Bart and his crew which leaves Danny without a master. Wandering around in some of his familiar places, he meets up with Sam (Morgan Freeman), who takes him in and treats him like a person, along with Victoria (Kerry Condon), a young girl who Sam is also looking after.
As you may have guessed, Danny soon has to choose who to stay with. Most of you can figure out that the story would come to this and there is no need to spoil the movie for those who do not. Needless to say, more fighting ensues.
I enjoyed Unleashed and would recommend it to fans of martial arts movies, Jet Li or both. I rank it up with Jet Li's "The One" with it's originality and great story. 8/10
Danny (Jet Li) is a trained fighting machine. We do not get to find out how he became so well trained or even who trained him to fight but we do get to eventually see the back story in which his "Uncle" Bart (Bob Hoskins) gets ahold of him.
Bart is a bit of a gangster or thug of some kind. He uses Danny to beat his opponents unmercifully. Anyone who does not pay what is owed to Bart gets a visit from him and his "dog". This gives the film an excuse to be a little more violent that most other martial arts films as Danny always goes straight for the jugular once Bart takes his collar off.
One of Bart's many rivals eventually makes a move to take out Bart and his crew which leaves Danny without a master. Wandering around in some of his familiar places, he meets up with Sam (Morgan Freeman), who takes him in and treats him like a person, along with Victoria (Kerry Condon), a young girl who Sam is also looking after.
As you may have guessed, Danny soon has to choose who to stay with. Most of you can figure out that the story would come to this and there is no need to spoil the movie for those who do not. Needless to say, more fighting ensues.
I enjoyed Unleashed and would recommend it to fans of martial arts movies, Jet Li or both. I rank it up with Jet Li's "The One" with it's originality and great story. 8/10