Honeybeads Blog

This was a very interesting film. You could give it this tag line: "A heartwarming tale about an imprisoned, emotionally battered orphan who discovers the meaning of love and family from a blind piano repairman and his step-daughter". You could just as easily say of this film: "A killing machine who seeks revenge for the murder of his mother enacts his form of martial arts judgement within the criminal underworld." This movie successfully examines both extremes of human nature - the ability to love and show compassion; and the capacity for hate and man's darkest forms of evil.

Danny (Jet Li) has been raised like a trained attack dog. His lethal, violent rage is kept in check by a collar his master keeps around his neck. This master is his "uncle" (Bob Hoskins) is a vile, mean-spirited extortionist who shows us the dark side of man. Hoskins is brilliant in this role - you will find yourself hating this man from the start and by the end, you are so completely repulsed by him it becomes hard to even look at him on the screen. Hoskins uses Danny to beat people into paying for protection - pay up and the collar stays on, refuse and the collar comes off, or something like that. While not performing his attack dog routine, Danny is kept in an under-floor cage, forced to witness his "uncle" with prostitutes and, we imagine, other various forms of debauchery.

Eventually, Danny escapes and meets Sam (Morgan Freeman) and his step-daughter Victoria (Kerry Condon). Sam is a blind musician who tunes pianos. Sam and Kerry take Danny in as one of the family and teach him about compassion, love, and life. As usual, Morgan Freeman is excellent. Kerry Condon (I hadn't seen her before) plays her role with a vibrant energy. Even Jet Li manages to do some pretty decent acting.

Unleashed pretty much covers all the bases and does it well. I really liked this movie. There are some of the best martial arts sequences and choreography that I've seen. Woo-ping Yuen directed the fight scenes and it shows (he is also responsible for the fight sequences in the Matrix and Kill Bill Vol's I & II). The fight scenes have been noted as being Jet Li's longest and most intense to date. The script is simple but believable. The film does an excellent job at character development - you really do care for these people. The creates a good deal of tension when it's intended to be tense. My stomach was in knots with worry, hoping that things would work out for the three main "good" guys. I even felt tears welling up at one point.

Please note that this film is rated "R" and for good reason. There is plenty of violence, language, and some brief nudity. It's heartwarming, yes, but in an in-your-face, True Romance sort of way...

Brian's Bottom Line: Awesome martial arts film with a surprisingly touching story. Highly recommended.