Kiss of the Dragon

2001 "Kiss Fear Goodbye"
6.6| 1h38m| R| en| More Info
Released: 06 July 2001 Released
Producted By: 20th Century Fox
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Liu Jian, an elite Chinese police officer, comes to Paris to arrest a Chinese drug lord. When Jian is betrayed by a French officer and framed for murder, he must go into hiding and find new allies.

... View More
Stream Online

The movie is currently not available onine

Director

Producted By

20th Century Fox

Trailers & Images

Reviews

betty dalton Jet Li produced this movie together with Luc Besson. Director/Producer Luc Besson is known for his love for violence. Fortunately that violence is often portrayed in a cartoon like fashion, which makes the violent scenes bearable and even funny. However this time the violence sometimes is just too gross, unfit for a movie like this. Not suited for those beneath 16 years of age. The story of a violent chief of police isnt credible either in the violent way it is portrayed here. So it doenst serve any purpose besides shock value. That is my only criticism of this kung fu fight movie, besides some other flaws in the story that just arent believable either. It could have been much better, with less gross violence and a bit more credibility in the story. Now it barely rises above a good B movie.Still I really enjoyed it. And don't get me wrong, the kung fu fighting scenes are excellent! It is just a few other violent scenes that are distasteful. But enough said about the violence, let's talk about the wonderful performance of the lovely Bridget Fonda, in her second to last role of her carreer. She is to die for in her role as a prostitute who comes to the aid of a chinese cop played by Jet Li. Together they have to bring down a corrupt chief of police who runs a prostitute organisation. Not that the story matters much, it is just a contineous fighting barrage intertwined with exciting chases. Although there are lots of pauses, which gives the characters of Jet Li and Bridget Fonda time to interact with eachother. Their acting really makes this movie rise far above the average kung fu movie. Summarizing: the story has some flaws which make the sum total fall flat a bit. Still very enjoyable. I will wanna see it again. 7 stars. Could have been 8 stars though with a more credible story...
rzajac I'm about to do something I've never done. I'm going to "review" this film after having turned if off about 15 minutes in.You don't have to ignore this review; just read it while keeping in mind the caveat that I turned "Kiss of the Dragon" off, 15 minutes in.It's simple really: 15 minutes in, I had no idea where the flick was headed. Now, the usual retort is to point out that a lot of flicks do that: They defer spelling out the underlying key plot points quite a ways into the flick. So why do I refuse to cut KotD the kind of slack that is due to a slow-burn sizzler storyline?Because KotD doesn't sizzle. In fact, one gets the sense that Besson is fully aware of the need to create tension of one kind or another in order to sustain things while the viewer gathers the data which will eventually pay off in a stunner revelation. But the data stream is... well, I was about to say bizarre... but bizarre is good! In fact, it might be a good idea at this point to mention his La Femme Nikita (the film). It sustains for a good, long while until the data is gathered because the leading action is bizarre *enough*. There's an amazing firehose of bizarrerie that keeps you alert and pondering, until the air clears and all the necessary pieces fall into place; well, at least, enough of the pieces to apprise you of the fact that you're watching an actual story.KotD opens with an unsatisfying, disconnected cubistic salad of cloak/daggerish visual and verbal cues, gangster scenarios, a hookers/john sequence that floats in an utter void, and a weird, utterly inexplicable 180 degree turnabout in the relationship between the crime boss and the new recruit--10 minutes into their relationship--which can't even be explained away as a spurious psychopathic lark on the part of the crime boss, let alone as a natural concomitant of the recruit's actions.I suppose that, if I'd hung with it, I'd've been able to metabolize that salad in some fashion. But, 15 minutes in, my question to myself was, "Why bother?"In the stuff I describe above, I don't mention Jet Li's lovely martial arts moves. And I left them out for a reason; because I wanted to preserve them from the disreputable notion that Besson thought they'd suffice to keep the viewer's attention.I think reviewing the first 15 minutes of this flick was worth doing-- there was so much to say!--so I did it. I hope you understand.
KineticSeoul This is one of the good Jet Li movies that was made and produced for world wide audiences. Now the story to this isn't all that bad for a straight forward action movie. But the execution of it all just comes off plain ridiculous and over the top in a very unbelievable fashion. It seemed like the makers got together and mashed up things that would be cool to see Jet Li handle. Thus some of the action parts just comes off a bit random with some of the most incompetent bad guys. The story is simple a agent played by Jet Li gets framed by a inspector that is part of the police to feel more of his greedy wants. So Jet Li's character teams up with a prostitute played by Bridget Fonda to take down the bad guys with some martial arts and acupuncture skills. Like I said the story might be simple but it isn't awful and gets the job done. Just wish the direction and execution wouldn't have been so absurd. The corrupt inspector and his goons go around shooting up Paris without anything going wrong for them. The dialogue on the other hand is pretty bad to the point some audiences can't help but chuckle a bit at although it isn't trying to be funny. This is also the first movie I seen Cyril Raffaelli in and he does some cool acrobatic fighting in this against Jet Li. Overall this is a entertaining action popcorn flick that is worth seeing with some other friends or relatives that enjoy this type of genre.7/10
oneguyrambling Look the back of the KOTD DVD cover might sound the same as a million cheap martial arts B flicks: Jet Li is a Chinese Secret Service agent, when sold out and betrayed by his French allies and framed for a crime he didn't commit he goes underground, only returning to clear his name and defend the honour of a poor unfortunate prostitute with a heart of gold whose daughter is being held hostage by the evil French Police Chief who terrorises them both.… and in reality it pretty much is the same. But KOTD is different, different in that it has no less than 5 scenes that could rightfully called classics. So rather than go through the standard *yawn* plot and say what a good guy Jet is and how hard done by Bridget Fonda is as the hooker, I'll explain why you REALLY NEED to see this movie if you are even a passing fan of martial arts flicks.Reason # 1: Jet – nicknamed Johnny in the film – objects to some nasty stuff the corrupt French cops are doing… they decide to kill and frame him in that order. The ensuing flight, pursuit and ongoing battle makes the film worthwhile and we're only 15 odd minutes in.With much more to come.Reason # 2: Now on the lam Johnny organises a secret rendezvouz with a friend and countryman to devise an escape plan. Obviously this goes awry and there is a desperate fight on a ferry that goes for a few minutes. A similar scene might be the highlight of many modern day martial arts films, in KOTD it is the least special.Reason # 3: Johnny is lying low while he recovers from the wounds sustained – so far. After standing up for Fonda's hooker character a sh*tstorm erupts when her pimp and associated nefarious dudes step in. The best part of this fight is a great standoff between Johnny and a towering muscular black guy, but the bit you'll remember most is how Johnny is able to finish the fight with a set of chopsticks.Reason # 4: That's three classic fights in one film, you still need more reasons?? OK then. Johnny embarks on a brief rescue mission, taking on two similar looking and equally formidable foes in the process. The fight is great and the concluding move especially cool, but this is merely a brief prelude to… Reason # 5: Johnny decides to stop all this running stuff and confronts his problem head on, by walking into the French Police HQ and taking down everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – in one scene he accidentally gatecrashes a martial arts training session and gives the students an impromptu lesson in just how far they all have to go… all at once.Reason # 6: While the Kiss of the Dragon element is a little hokey (not to be spoiled here), the implementation of the move itself is extremely memorable and immensely satisfying. While he doesn't get his own "reason" the lead bad guy – an over the top and incredibly shady cop named Richard – deserves everything that he gets, and he is easily one of the more reprehensible bad guys in recent cinema.Kiss of the Dragon was my first DVD purchase, bought months before I actually had a DVD player. Most martial arts films aim for one or two scenes that might warrant a "classic" description. This film has no less than 5.Final Rating – 9 / 10. Awesome stuff that makes me struggle with the reality that Jet Li decided that films like The One, Romeo Must Die and Cradle 2 the Grave were where he belonged.