Unleashed

So there goes another opportunity to give a withering review of a movie I assumed was going to be terrible. Needless to say, Unleashed was not the mindless martial arts movie that I expected it to be.

The basic premise of the story is that Danny (Jet Li) has been raised from childhood by a ruthless mob boss, Bart (Bob Hoskins). He is trained to kick the crap out of people the instant his collar is removed and Bart commands him to “kill.” Unfortunately for Danny, he is also treated as though he were a dog, kept in a cage and rarely given any human interaction…aside from, you know, fighting people. Needless to say, he is left alone for a few minutes one day, and encounters Sam (Morgan Freeman), a blind piano tuner and wise old sage. The movie diverts from the typical martial arts kickfest at this point, and actually delves into plot and character development.

It’s refreshing to watch a movie like this use the plot and characters as its focus instead of mindlessly finagling scenes that present Jet Li with the opportunity to punch someone. It makes the fights all the more interesting when they occur and draws the viewer in past the surface level. The fight scenes themselves are well choreographed, and Jet Li does his usual thing, but I was mostly surprised at how well he could actually act. There were a few cheesy moments, such as when Sam the Blind Sage compares Jet Li to a piano that has been pounded on relentlessly and slowly gone out of tune. But all in all, despite my best efforts I found myself enjoying the movie and the story that it was telling.

Unleashed has all the elements of a good martial arts movie, as in there’s a lot of fighting, but it also adds a story and characters that are surprisingly human. Morgan Freeman and Bob Hoskins both do excellent jobs with their characters, although as my friend said afterward, “Morgan Freeman could be cast as a white teenage girl and still make me believe it.” True enough.

I don’t necessarily recommend that you see this movie in theaters (although you won’t be sorry if you do), but I do highly recommend that you see it eventually. It’s definitely not one that I normally would have gone to see, but I’m very glad I did.