This may come as a shock, but I don’t
attend Jet Li’s English-language movies so I can learn more about the human
experience. What I want to watch is Li gracefully coaxing blood out of people
from places where they didn’t previously have holes. What I hope to hear is the
revolting yet satisfying crunch of bad-guy bones. Ideally, this should all
occur without his feet touching the ground or words coming out of his mouth,
and I am rarely let down.
But Li’s alternately quiet and
kinetic performance in his latest film, Unleashed, serves notice that this
fightin’ megastar might actually have some acting chops to complement that
easy-on-the-eyes magnetism (it also probably helps to be able to hone said
chops against titans like Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman). Li won’t need to
prepare an Oscar acceptance speech anytime soon, but Jackie Chan and Chow
Yun-Fat had better watch their backs.
The plot of Unleashed is almost too idiotic to mock. Li plays Danny, a man who
has been raised by a gangster (the great Hoskins, in full Cockney bloom) to be
an enforcer in his organization. Danny wears a metal collar and is conditioned
to beat the stuffing out of various unfortunates (using awesome fight
choreography by Yuen Wo Ping) once his master removes the collar. A chance
meeting with a blind piano tuner named Sam (Freeman) causes Danny to think
there may be more to life than unwavering obedience, and when he gets a chance
to escape, he takes it. But then… oh, I’m sure you can figure out the rest.
Louis Leterrier (The Transporter) directs Unleashed from a script by Luc Besson, who hasn’t made a movie of his own since 1999’s
Joan of Arc flick The Messenger.
Besson has an odd penchant for the maudlin, and there is an extended,
action-free patch in the middle of Unleashed during which old dog Danny learns new tricks with the help of Sam and his
sickeningly sweet stepdaughter (Kerry Condon, last seen getting punched in the
face by Colin Farrell in InterMission).
Besson’s next directing project is Arthur and the Minimoys, a film based on a
series of children’s books that he wrote. Hopefully that will flush the rest of
the sap from his system.
When DeNiro and Pacino both turned up
in Heat, filmmaker Michael Mann knew
that fans would impale his head on a pike at Hollywood and Vine if he didn’t
allow them a chance to dine on the scenery together. So why would Besson think
it’s okay to let legendary character actors like Freeman and Hoskins star in
the same movie without writing them at least one joint, juicy interlude? Now I
wish I hadn’t traded my guillotine for that bag of Sour Patch Kids.
It
may seem at times like I suffer from an unhealthy enjoyment of on-screen
violence, but I do have my limits. For instance, there’s a scene in Jang
Jun-Hwan’s manic Save the Green Planetduring
which our hero carefully lubes an electrified metal… um… probe. I couldn’t
tell you what happened next because I had to leave the room. And that reaction
is also a bit of a testament to the filmmaker, in that I wasn’t sure just how
far he would go.
Our aforementioned hero, Lee
Byeong-Gu, is a sad-eyed conspiracy nut who believes aliens from Andromeda are
planning to destroy the earth. He’s got a simple girlfriend named Sooni and an
arsenal of homemade alien-thwarting supplies, and his latest target is the CEO
of Yuje Chemicals, Kang Man-Shik, a man who Lee believes to be not of this
earth. The plan is to kidnap Kang, torture him into dishing on the alien
invasion, and put stop to it.
There are two clichéd cops (jaded vet
and eager hotshot) on Lee’s tail, and as the story unspools, it becomes clear
via quick, grainy flashbacks that Lee may have an ulterior motive for pinching
Kang that has nothing to do with outer space.
Planet is a wild ride, kicking off with a thrashy version of “Over the
Rainbow” and piling on the silly and the gory for almost two hours. It
doesn’t always succeed (the ending is a slight letdown), but the resourceful
Jang establishes himself as a filmmaker to watch. Here’s hoping Hollywood won’t
ruin him.
Unleashed (R) is playing now at
Culver Ridge Cinemas, Cinemark Tinseltown, Greece Ridge 12; Save
the Green Planet(NR) screens
Friday, May 20, at the Dryden Theatre, 8 p.m.
This article appears in May 18-24, 2005.
