Add the leash, take away the lines, and Jet Li shines.
It seems people often stay in abusive relationships because the abuser makes them feel as if they don't deserve to be happy, that they bring the abuse on themselves. This bit of armchair
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psychiatry is at the center of
Unleashed
, a straight-up action film with a surprisingly strong heart beating at its core.
Jet Li plays Danny, a man raised as the captive of ruthless loan shark Bart (Bob Hoskins). Bart has trained Danny to obey commands like an attack dog, outfitting him with a collar and keeping him locked in a cage. When Bart's clients fail to make their payments, the collar comes off and Danny turns enforcer. After witnessing Danny in action, Wyeth (Michael Jenn) offers Bart a chance to enter Danny in an underground fight club where the winner takes home cash and the loser dies. After winning his first fight, Danny escapes Bart's clutches, fleeing to safety in the form of a blind piano tuner named Sam (Morgan Freeman) and his stepdaughter Victoria (Kerry Condon). Happily living with his new family, Danny learns about the finer things in life-shopping, music and vanilla ice cream.
Unleashed
begins as a grimy and gray piece of hyperactive violence, introducing us to Danny as little more than a killing machine. After his escape those opening scenes become a distant memory similar to those that haunt Danny. The mood, color and tone of the film become brighter and warmer as Danny grows close to Sam and Victoria.
Li, an action movie veteran not known for incredible range, taps into a special place in his role as Danny. With very few lines to his credit he manages to convey the fear, confusion and joy that Danny experiences in his hunched posture, timid demeanor and wide eyes.
Hoskins' Bart is a fantastic villain, subtly complex and undeniably vicious. After tracking Danny down, he tries to convince him to return "home," claiming to miss him before telling him he's worthless. One senses he actually does love Danny but it's misplaced affection, the kind someone lavishes on expensive baubles.
Freeman and Condon provide the emotional core of the film without veering too far into the realm of cliché or sappiness. Victoria's tender kisses on Danny's cheek are the
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closest the film comes to a tacked on love story-the transformation from slavery to freedom isn't belittled by a forced or fake romance.
The action scenes are undeniably brutal, with Li taking on groups of well-dressed gangsters and rejects from
Thunderdome
with equal aplomb. The kicks and punches of
Unleashed
, though, are secondary to the story of Danny breaking free of his abusive relationship with Bart, one that's dehumanized him and denied him a normal life.
Director Louis Leterrier (
The Transporter
) and screenwriter Luc Besson (
The Professional
) have created a quality action film that delivers on all levels, a rare feat for a genre that normally favors computer effects and big explosions over emotional resonance. If this relationship continues, audiences will keep coming back for more.
