Luc Besson's films are like Frankenstein creatures, often mixing the commercial formulas of not too distant Hollywood films with shades of comedy or drama, that I guess are Besson's ways of trying to infuse some intimacy on the formulas. Take his version of Joan of Arc, The Messenger, for instance, where he mixes the tragedy of a young child who saw his family killed (and has probably developed several traumas because of it) with a Hollywood-esque medieval war film.
This said, Unleashed is probably his best effort as a producer. During the last years we have seen many films produced by him (The Transporter, Kiss of the dragon) that used the same formula (he was often credited as writer or co-witer as well), but which in the hands of other directors just felt too corny.
The mix, however, works much, much better this time. Either Besson (again, writer), has been more careful than in other ocasions, or the director Louis Leterrier has felt more confortable with it than he did with The transporter.
Unleashed mixes crime story, drama and martial arts to tell the story of Danny (Jet Li,. in quite a respectable performance), a young man that has always lived enslaved by the head of a scottish gang (an absolutely brilliant Bob Hoskins), who uses him as a thug and bodyguard. When his boss is assaulted, believing him dead, he is adopted by a small family and slowly he starts to recover from his ordeal. However, his former "master" is alive, and won't give up easily.
For the most part of it, this film is a drama or a crime story, but now and then violence scalates and Jet Li is ,well, unleashed, to perform some of his best and most bloody fighting on western shores. Those who hated (with reason) the caged fight in Craddle to the grave will see, in one of the best all-out action moments of the film, how it should have been.
Unleashed is not your typical actioner, but the drama and the crime story work well enough to make it a respectable film, while the fighting is everything Jet Li fans should ask for. I'd recommend it without hesitating to everybody.
I saw this and put a review on the board and thought it was ok. For some reason it didn't click with me. The fight scene I thought was the best I have seen in awhile was the fight with the guy in white. I didn't like the fight in the pit too much thought it was standard stuff. I am not trying to get at you Neville, just giveing a opinion :)
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"We Greeks created democracy! You also created homos!"-Ghost World
Nah, no offense intended. I quite enjoyed the pit fight, mainly because it was all the infamous cage fight in "Craddle to the grave" should have been.