"Unleashed" by Rogue Pictures
By Jay Chrisman
Life is a series of coincidences. Some call it fate, some call it luck, but nobody denies that there isn’t a certain amount of magic involved in the coincidences of life. Take for instance, Danny. Danny was taken from his mother at a young age and raised as a human pitbull. The only shred of humanity left in Danny is his affinity for pianos. When Danny and his captor, Uncle Bart, are involved in a car accident why is it such a stretch for Danny to seek shelter in the home of the only person who’s ever been nice to him, a blind man who tunes pianos?
Screenplay writer Luc Besson has been heavily ridiculed for the improbable coincidences that make the film “Unleashed” work, but isn’t that what life is, a series of improbable coincidences?
Danny, played by Jet Li, was separated from his mother, a piano prodigy at a nearby music institute and trained to be a high-flying, kung-fu pitbull, collar and all, by his loan shark master, Uncle Bart, played by Bob Hoskins. After crossing the wrong guys Danny and Uncle Bart are involved in a not-so-accidental car accident. Danny thinks that Uncle Bart is dead so he does what is logical to him, crawl to the workplace of one of Uncle Bart’s collections, which happens to be the workplace of Sam, who is played by Morgan Freeman.
Sam and his adopted daughter Victoria, played by Kerry Condon, welcome Danny into their home and teach him about humanity. Danny warms to them and eventually becomes human, except for his inexperience with the world and things like ice cream, which lends a few laughs to this otherwise action-packed drama.
Eventually one of Uncle Bart’s henchmen recognizes Danny and brings him home. Uncle Bart isn’t too happy when he finds that Danny doesn’t want to hurt people anymore.
Jet Li delivers a stunning performance in this film. This will definitely be a step up from kung-fu guru to well-rounded actor for Li. Li doesn’t deliver many lines but he doesn’t have to. Some critics have joked that Li wasn’t written out of much of the script because he can’t act, but Li delivers more emotion and understanding with his facial expressions and development into the character of Danny than most A-list actors have ever done.
Morgan Freeman, who is cast into a stereotypical role gives his usual words of wisdom but does so in a believable manner as the character and not in his played out voice-over style. Freeman also delivers a bit of unchecked aggression, something his usual roles lack, but is always present in human nature.
Danny’s should-have-been love affair, Kerry Condon, is probably the weakest actor in the film, failing to lend complete believability to her part, but she still has a large part in giving touches of humanity to Li’s character.
Bob Hoskins is the only character that doesn’t develop much in the film. He’s a money-hungry, evil shrew of a man with his usual British accent, this time accentuated instead of underplayed.
The cinematography, while not too subtle, lends a rift to Danny’s two worlds. Danny’s life as a dog is white-washed which lends a feeling of coldness to the scenes while Danny’s life with Sam and Victoria are full of colors and things that lend warmth to the scenes. The costumes and settings also lend themselves to the overall effect.
The only thing that really stands out about this film is a lack of explanation into the circumstances of the plot. How did Uncle Bart get away with keeping a child locked up in a cage with a collar around his neck like a dog? How did Danny learn amazing martial arts techniques? Where are the police during all of this?
But none of these questions are important. They could be answered with a few extra scenes, but those extra scenes would only distract from the perfect flow that has been orchestrated for this film.
Life is a series of coincidences. Some call it fate, some call it luck, but nobody denies that there isn’t a certain amount of magic involved in the coincidences of life. Take for instance, Danny. Danny was taken from his mother at a young age and raised as a human pitbull. The only shred of humanity left in Danny is his affinity for pianos. When Danny and his captor, Uncle Bart, are involved in a car accident why is it such a stretch for Danny to seek shelter in the home of the only person who’s ever been nice to him, a blind man who tunes pianos?
Screenplay writer Luc Besson has been heavily ridiculed for the improbable coincidences that make the film “Unleashed” work, but isn’t that what life is, a series of improbable coincidences?
Danny, played by Jet Li, was separated from his mother, a piano prodigy at a nearby music institute and trained to be a high-flying, kung-fu pitbull, collar and all, by his loan shark master, Uncle Bart, played by Bob Hoskins. After crossing the wrong guys Danny and Uncle Bart are involved in a not-so-accidental car accident. Danny thinks that Uncle Bart is dead so he does what is logical to him, crawl to the workplace of one of Uncle Bart’s collections, which happens to be the workplace of Sam, who is played by Morgan Freeman.
Sam and his adopted daughter Victoria, played by Kerry Condon, welcome Danny into their home and teach him about humanity. Danny warms to them and eventually becomes human, except for his inexperience with the world and things like ice cream, which lends a few laughs to this otherwise action-packed drama.
Eventually one of Uncle Bart’s henchmen recognizes Danny and brings him home. Uncle Bart isn’t too happy when he finds that Danny doesn’t want to hurt people anymore.
Jet Li delivers a stunning performance in this film. This will definitely be a step up from kung-fu guru to well-rounded actor for Li. Li doesn’t deliver many lines but he doesn’t have to. Some critics have joked that Li wasn’t written out of much of the script because he can’t act, but Li delivers more emotion and understanding with his facial expressions and development into the character of Danny than most A-list actors have ever done.
Morgan Freeman, who is cast into a stereotypical role gives his usual words of wisdom but does so in a believable manner as the character and not in his played out voice-over style. Freeman also delivers a bit of unchecked aggression, something his usual roles lack, but is always present in human nature.
Danny’s should-have-been love affair, Kerry Condon, is probably the weakest actor in the film, failing to lend complete believability to her part, but she still has a large part in giving touches of humanity to Li’s character.
Bob Hoskins is the only character that doesn’t develop much in the film. He’s a money-hungry, evil shrew of a man with his usual British accent, this time accentuated instead of underplayed.
The cinematography, while not too subtle, lends a rift to Danny’s two worlds. Danny’s life as a dog is white-washed which lends a feeling of coldness to the scenes while Danny’s life with Sam and Victoria are full of colors and things that lend warmth to the scenes. The costumes and settings also lend themselves to the overall effect.
The only thing that really stands out about this film is a lack of explanation into the circumstances of the plot. How did Uncle Bart get away with keeping a child locked up in a cage with a collar around his neck like a dog? How did Danny learn amazing martial arts techniques? Where are the police during all of this?
But none of these questions are important. They could be answered with a few extra scenes, but those extra scenes would only distract from the perfect flow that has been orchestrated for this film.
posted by Sassmo at 10:22 PM
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