Unleashed

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.

Awesome. I’ve been waiting for a kickass action movie like this one all year, and even though the slate of films to get to this point has been something short of awful (for the most part), it’s always nice to get reminded of why movies rock and roll, and why a potent action flick can make everything seem so right again. Congrats to Jet Li for finally picking a Hollywood project worthy of his talent, with a great mix of flashy fight sequences and dramatic potency, intertwined with a cute story about a man who never truly experienced actual childhood development. It’s no surprise that French filmmaker Luc Besson is behind this film, which has more than a couple of similarities to one of the best films he ever produced/directed called LEON (or THE PROFESSIONAL in the states). I’m not sure why American studios insist on changing the titles to these great films to generics, but even in the case of this movie, I would have preferred the European title of DANNY THE DOG. Title aside, if you’re looking for a movie that is going to punch you in the face, provide stylish strokes galore, an entertaining bad guy in Bobby Hoskins, a nice bit of “depth” via Morgan Freeman, some flashback sequences to Danny’s childhood and a cute relationship with Freeman’s daughter, this is the movie for you. Oh, and make sure you don’t walk in a few minutes late because the film starts off with a BANG, as the dog’s collar is removed and asses are kicked up, down, right and even, center.

That said, you do need to know that after the film’s initial emphasis on action/crime, things really take a turn toward the dramatic as Danny meets up with Freeman and his daughter, and action completely disappears from the picture. I actually appreciated this part as well, as it gave the character a little more life, and even made me care about the ol’ pup. Also, in the back of my mind, I always knew that shit wasn’t going to remain tame for long, and I was right, as the ass-whooping soon returned to the film’s final act, with a cavalcade of battles moving to the forefront, including brutal face-punches, crotch-kicks and even some hair-pulls. Honestly though, as an audience member, I could actually feel some of that stuff. One particular sequence between Li and a baddie in a tiny bathroom is both invigorating to watch and quite vicious. Kudos to director Leterrier for giving the film a unique look as well, with plenty of style to boot, and action scenes that can actually be experienced, as opposed to much of the PG-13 crap that we’d been getting of late, with everything cut so fast that you don’t even have time to figure out whose ass is kicking who. Unlike some of Besson’s other recently produced fare, this film’s soundtrack is also very tame and absent of crappy hip-hop tunes, with classical music playing a nice, relaxing part in it all. Honestly, I had a blast with this film! It had a great mix of everything that I look for in my action movies with memorable punch-kick sequences, a fun baddie, an endearing lead, some decent drama, a little bit of humor, a not-too-overly serious tone, plenty of high style and an overall bag of whoop-ass entertainment. Shit, they even tossed some T and A in there for the kids!

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian