Unleashed (2005)

Firstly, I am not usually a fan of Jet Li films. I find the background music in his productions irritating and the fight scenes hokey. But I decided to give this one a try as I was curious why Morgan Freeman and Bob Hoskins would be in one of his films. I was completely surprised!!!! As others have mentioned, this film This film can stand on its own as a good piece of drama. At times, you could sense that the old paradigm for Li movies was being restrained, but it would quickly return back to the hopefully new direction for his career, with great writing and acting.If you are a dyed in the wool Jet Li fan, you might not like this one. But if you are simply a movie fan, this is an excellent and surprisingly good movie. I highly recommend.

Bart (Bob Hoskins) is a vicious loan shark. He has trained Danny (Jet Li) as his personal attack dog. When people don't pay, he takes off Danny's collar which sends him into attack mode. Danny is befriended by blind piano tuner Sam (Morgan Freeman). When someone pump bullets into Bart's car, Danny escapes and finds refuge with Sam and his step-daughter Victoria (Kerry Condon). Danny learns to be human from them but Bart comes back into his life.I love the idea of Danny the dog and his collar. There are lots of great Jet Li fight action. He does well enough with the acting. It helps that his character is still learning to speak. I actually would prefer he speaks less in this movie. Also I'm not sure if they are trying to make Victoria the romantic companion. At 18, her character is a little young. It would have been better if she's in her 20s. It's a pretty good action movie with an intriguing premise.

One film that I recommend highly is Danny The Dog aka Unleashed.This might be the kind of film you'd expect from Bob and perhaps Morgan, but throw in Jet and you're like: what?! Luc Besson has written an emotionally deep story. Danny (Jet Li) is a young boy who was brought up by a thug (Bob Hoskins), but he escapes to the loving family of Sam and Victoria (Morgan Freeman and Kerry Condon). He slowly learns to trust again but is torn when his owner returns.It is such a sweet story and I do not know why it wasn't awarded anything as it is not your run of the mill action flick. It has so much heart. I don't cry at many films, especially ones starring Jet Li, but this film drew water to my eyes in it's conclusion.Massive Attack provided a brilliantly moving soundtrack for the film, bringing a realism and adding to the emotional influence of the film.

In Glasgow, martial arts fighter Jet Li (as Danny) has been raised doggie-style by gangster Bob Hoskins (as Bart). When he has his collar on, Mr. Li is fairly docile - but when Mr. Hoskins takes the collar off, Li crunches bones and pounds heads. Looking a little like Ray Charles with a mustache, friendly Morgan Freeman (as Sam) arrives on the scene. A blind piano tuner, Mr. Freeman sees Li for the gentle soul that he really is, deep down. Ahh... Freeman has a step-daughter Kerry Condon (as Victoria Mills)...Freeman and Ms. Condon teach Li how to play the piano and be nice. At first, she has a scary metal smile, but Ms. Condon becomes kissable sweet after the "hardware" is removed and she shows Li how to lick vanilla ice cream. All goes well until Hoskins re-enters the picture. He wants Li to return to fighting for revenge and profit, and won't take "no" for an answer. An interesting debate can be made about how the film character rejects being paid to fight violently, when Li acting violent is what viewers pay to see.***** Danny the Dog/ Unleashed (2/2/05) Louis Leterrier ~ Jet Li, Morgan Freeman, Bob Hoskins, Kerry Condon