‘Unleashed’ not your typical action movie
Published 10:01 am Monday, March 3, 2008
“Sweet is good” is the last thing you’d expect to hear a character say in an martial arts movie, but “Unleashed” is anything but typical. That doesn’t mean you’ll leave the theater disappointed.
Jet Li plays Danny, who has spent his entire life a literal slave to the criminal whims of his ruthless “uncle,” Bart (Bob Hoskins). He’s essentially an attack dog, conditioned by collar training to fight and kill on command. When he’s not obliterating Bart’s enemies, he’s confined to a steel cage. Yet he manages to hang onto scraps of his humanity through hazy memories of his mother and threadbare childhood mementos.
While waiting to perform Bart’s dirty work, Danny encounters Sam (Morgan Freeman), a blind piano tuner who’s kindness is a new experience for Danny. When his chance at freedom comes unexpectedly, Sam and his stepdaughter Victoria (Kerry Condon) take Danny in, where a new world opens to him. Through Victoria’s music he begins to remember his mother and her love of music. Soon he realizes who is responsible for her violent death.
There’s still plenty of ferociously choreographed fight scenes in “Unleashed” to satisfy fans. The difference here is the story, written by French action director Luc Besson (who this time around leaves the directing honors to a prodigy, Louis Leterrier).
Best known for the films “The Professional” (also known as “Leon”) and “The Fifth Element,” Besson’s characters enter his stories as emotionally hardened outsiders, but are confronted with situations that challenge their carefully formulated worlds. Often it comes down to a matter of familial loyalties and questioning their place in the “family” that surrounds them.
Danny is a man of few words, so Li must rely his facial expressions to communicate the hopelessness, delight and emotions wavering somewhere in between — and he succeeds. Freeman and Hoskins are a welcome addition to the film as well. Each character is the polar opposite of the other, but their performances avoid pandering to the audience. Kerry Condon is also persuasive as the teenager who helps Danny see the world through new eyes.
The film’s gritty, brooding cinematography almost becomes a character itself, but it is eventually muted by the surprising moments of tenderness and humor Danny shares with his new “family.” The result is a film that will please action film fans and can also be appreciated by their reluctant theater companions.
