Leofwine_draca Jet Li's latest martial arts epic is quite an unusual film, with an unwieldy premise that feels like three entirely different kinds of films all mixed together rather randomly. First of all there are the gladiator-style fighting set-pieces, in which Li typically battles opponents, sometimes in a ring; these extraordinarily violent moments offer all the action a kung fu fan could wish for. Secondly, there's a gangsterish sub-plot, in which 21st century Glasgow becomes a seedy London of the '70s, as Bob Hoskins and his cronies go around torturing and crippling various adversaries. Finally, there's the human drama, in which Li becomes part of a family consisting of a blind Morgan Freeman and his niece. The elements are disparate, but the final effect is an interesting movie.New director Louis Leterrier, who has proved his worth with this and TRANSPORTER 2, delivers the action with aplomb and Yuen Woo Ping's choreography also helps loads; these fights are fast, furious and exceptionally hard-hitting, with lots of broken bones and really crucial battles. The arena fight with a pacifist Danny and the battle with the bald assassin are particularly worthy moments, some of the best I've seen, and I can't wait to watch them again.The human side of the story is also well handled, rather better than it should be, and Freeman turns the minor role of the piano tuner into something special and moving, yet human at the same time. Condon is sweet as the girl who brings out Li's humanity, and the pair share some touching moments. Not so with Bob Hoskins, who chews the scenery as the spectacularly unpleasant mob boss; Hoskins is on top form whether he's raging in anger or telling one of his anecdotes. I guess I'm not the only one wondering what Hoskins and Freeman are doing in an action B-movie.Li himself is good, although I found him more sympathetic in KISS OF THE DRAGON; he's said he's giving up kung fu and becoming a 'serious' actor, but I'm not totally convinced that he's good enough to do that. Martial arts-wise, though, Li is spectacular, a real force of nature who tears up the screen time after time, bringing new levels of entertainment to the viewer. A couple of excellent car crashes add to the action quotient and the result is a watchable film that should satisfy most fans who can handle the violence.

2karl- this cracking kung fu action flick came out in 2005 with 1hr36mins of head pummeling martial arts action with jet Li in spell bounding form with an impressive cast of bob Hoskins and Morgan freeman as a blind man jet Li is Danny who is as a slave raised by gangster bob Hoskins to be violent fighting machine and a compete in a illegal gladiator style fight clubs when Danny has chance encounter with a blind piano player tuner ( Morgan freeman character) Danny experiences of true kindness for the first time and escapes he escapes from the underworld to live with the piano tuner and his family but the mob go looking for Danny but wont give up on their asset Danny must fight his way out of his old life to protect his new identity new family and shed his old life for good better than expected film 7/10

g-bodyl Unleashed proves to the world that Jet Li is not only a martial arts star, but has the power to be a dramatic actor. As a result, he makes one of the best films of his career. This film is quite violent thanks to all the fighting, but the story has emotional power and surprisingly will invoke emotion in you if you like this film. I like how they took a classic animal tale but changed the animal part to human. It's inhumane, but a very powerful take on this old tale.Louis Leterrier's film is about a Chinese immigrant named Danny who was taken in by a London gangster at a very young age. The gangster treats Danny as a dog and he is trained to fight illegal fights for money. But after years of abuse, he finally escapes. He ends up living with a kind piano tuner. But things go awry when Danny's past begins to catch up with him.The acting is very good. I already mentioned Jet Li and how this is the best film of his career. But glory must also go out to Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman. Hoskins, usually the good guy, uses his angry scowl to be effectively scary as the gangster. Freeman as usual delivers a top-notch performance as the blind piano tuner.Overall, this is an excellent film that has loads of martial arts as well as some involving dramatic scenes. The choreography of the fights is brilliantly staged as usual in Jet Li's films. This is the best work he has done in English-speaking films as lead actor. I rate this film 9/10.

coolaznthaidude When i chose to watch this movie i had only the action in mind, i am never really impressed with Jet Li's acting, but i love his fighting, so when i chose this movie i did not expect much for a variety of reasons, for one i thought that having a human being used as a dog was a bizarre idea and the fact that this movie isn't so popular seemed to confirm that idea for me but once i watched this movie from start to finish i couldn't help but stare at the screen. The story in itself is so compelling and brings a sort of controversy in the area of child development and the debate of nature vs. nurture. The fact that Jet Li's character has been raised in such a hostile environment and somehow was able to reach a more sensitive and innocent side when he spent time with morgan freeman is such a touching element to such a movie. Morgan Freeman is brilliant as always and Jet Li's acting and emotion in this movie was spot on. The action was brutal and yet still had the finesse that Jet Li brings to all of his fighting scenes. This movie allows guys to reach an emotional side without feeling emasculated. Take out the action then it would be a great drama movie, take away the drama then it would make a great action movie, lucky for us movie lovers this was a combination of the two. I was entertained throughout the entire movie, i loved it, if you haven't watched it then you should.