Two men cut off from the world in different ways become unlikely friends and protectors in this offbeat action drama. Danny (Jet Li) is a physically powerful but emotionally stunted man; never given any sort of proper education, Danny has learned little in his lifetime but how to fight, and his minder, Bart (Bob Hoskins), treats him more like a guard dog than anything else, using him in illegal no-holds-barred brawls that earn Bart plenty of money but only reinforce Danny's violent alienation.
When Bart is injured in an auto accident, Danny is left to fend for himself, and stumbles upon Sam (Morgan Freeman), an elderly piano tuner who has lost his sight. Sam is the first person to treat Danny with kindness, and the music he plays soothes the troubled soul of the fighter. However, Danny's fighting skills soon come in handy when Sam runs afoul of a pack of small-time crooks who believe he knows too much about their operations. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
An intriguing little action thriller, a half-and-half story divided between sequences of vicious violence and quiet, wryly comic scenes of newfound domesticity.
The film contains enough quiet, reflective moments for us to become aware how preposterous the central conceit is, and that keeps us at arm's length. For a movie that strives to be in-your-face, that's too far away.
This is by far Jet Li's best English language film, and one of the finest of his career, not because of the thrillingly choreographed fight sequences but because of its well constructed story and Li's riveting performance.
Freeman is better than his role, and Hoskins is a powerful presence. Li almost pulls off a psychologically complex role. But in the end, Unleashed is a muddled film.
Para cada bom filme que escreve, produz ou dirige, Luc Besson realiza outras dez porcarias. Esta é uma delas (e nem mesmo as boas seqüências de luta podem salvar um roteiro absurdo, esquemático e com personagens unidimensionais).
"Unleashed" is definitely Jet Li's best English film. Man, are there some pretty awkward moments in this. The follow up to most of the fight scenes is very drab and very rarely does the drama actually have an impact, but the action fight sequences are incredibly satisfying. I liked the gritty cinematography also. Only
one thing: why was there nudity in this movie? It was so unnecessary.
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