Review of Unleashed (2005) by Godlessgod — 20 Nov 2011
Unleashed (a.k.a. Danny The Dog) is a gangster-fairytale-martial arts-drama about a man who not only was never given the chance to grow up, but was raised as a dog. I've seen hundreds of martial arts action films and I have no problem saying that Unleashed is easily one of the best English language martial arts action films of all-time! Not only was the action on point but the acting was actually good.
Morgan Freeman does a decent enough job (not his best work) but Bob Hoskins blew me away as the wicked uncle! The biggest surprise though was the dramatic chops of Jet Li! He displays a childlike innocence in this role that makes you actually care what happens to him so you end up truly feeling for his character.
He gives a stellar emotional and physical performance as an actor, everything from his posture to his emotionally expressive, soulful eyes. He takes you on a journey from animalistic pit-bull-like ferocity to docile puppy-like innocence, curiosity, and vulnerability.
You experience moments of humor, drama, & edge of your seat-brutal action sequences! I know some people were put off by the quieter sections of the film when the studio marketed it as some sort of non-stop action flick, but the truth is this movie has heart.
.. Which I find refreshing for this type of film. Simply put, Unleashed was off-the-chain! P.S. Just a WARNING: I own the dvd and when you first put it in it gives you a choice between the Unrated & Extended versions of the film.
.. DO NOT WATCH the extended version for the first viewing! The extended sections ruin the fight scenes with poor video and audio quality, I don't even think they added sound effects.
This review of Unleashed (2005) was written by Godlessgod on 20 Nov 2011.
Unleashed has generally received positive reviews.
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