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Unleashed
01/09/2005 . Source: Phil Jones 
Film: A Universal/Rogue release. 18 cert. Running time: 103 mins.Starring Jet Li, Morgan Freeman, Bob Hoskins and Kerry Condon.Directed by Louis Leterrier. Written by Robert Mark Kamen and Luc Besson. Produced by Luc Besson and Pierre-Ange Le Pogam. Buy Unleashed in the USA - or Buy Unleashed in the UK  'Unleashed' follows the story of Danny a human 'dog' who is kept in a cell below ground. Raised by Bart, a gangland boss, as a lethal fighting tool to extract money from debtors, he is controlled using a leash or collar. This quasi-Hong Kong/European cross over brings a lot more to the genre than Luc Bessons/Mark Kamen's previous two films.
Released through Universal's genre division Rogue pictures, I'm not whole sure that Universal realised what sort of film it had. This is not your usual fan-based material of your Hong Kong/fighting style picture.
The opening scene is truly impressive. Danny (Jet Li) is released by removing his collar by his 'Uncle' Bart (Bob Hoskins) and a hard-edged fighting sequence commences. This is not your silky smooth combat of 'The Matrix', but it still has a certain grace. The fighting sequences were choreographed by Yuen Wo-Ping who has worked on films such as 'The Matrix' and 'Crouching Tiger'. He is given full rain by the director Louis Leterrier and this is definitely to the betterment of the film. We are given huge fast-paced set pieces with a violent frantic flavour.
Danny's life seems one of imprisonment, slavery, and servitude. Raised from a small boy as a human 'pitbull' by Bart, always wearing his collar until called upon to beat the living crap out of Bart's 'clients' and would-be adversaries. Things change when he is given the opportunity to escape Bart's hold, and he seeks the help of a blind American piano tuner Sam (Morgan Freeman) who is living in Britain until his daughter Victoria finishes her studies. Inevitably Danny's old life catches up with him and emotional and physical turmoil ensue.
You may be thinking that the premise for this film is a bit of a cliché. I think if it were handled by a Hollywood director would have fallen totally on its face and ended up in a schmaltzy mess. What we have here though is a film with an OK plot and script but it is truly elevated by performances by Freeman's and Li's performances. Both actors bring depth to their characters that you just would not expect in a film like this. Even the other actors lift their limited parts/dialogue. Hoskins is workman-like in his approach but it works. The cast overall though bring a freshness and realism to the film.
The film works much better than previous Besson/Kamen outings which seemed to be vehicles for set pieces with little attention to plot. This film should not work, but it does. The camera work and choice of colour hues just append to the feel of the film. The fight sequences are truly impressive without impinging on the flow or plot of the film.
Whether you could truly train someone to be a child-like fighter on a leash is open to debate but I hope that this film is seen by more than fans of the genre and this film really does have broad appeal.
Phil Jones
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