Review of Unleashed (2005) by Waleed A — 19 Nov 2017

Unleashed is a somewhat underrated action film with an underlying story about what family is. Danny has been trained like a dog to fight for Bart, a gangster in Glasgow who uses Danny to enforce his debt collections. After Bart disappears in a drive by shooting, Danny escapes and finds shelter with a blind piano player and his stepdaughter who help him learn how to live like a human being.

Morgan is wonderful as always playing Sam, a kindly older man who takes Danny under his wing and has some very poignant monologues throughout the film. Although Jet Li isn't the most convincing actor, he does manage to capture a good mixture of innocence and violence as Danny and isn't given a great deal of dialogue which helps his performance. Bob Hoskins is force to be reckoned with as Bart, a gruff, cruel man with a penchant for talking and a warped sense of family.

The overall plot is fairly predictable but charming with a lot of heart. Sometimes the dialogue is also a little heavy on exposition but the tone is consistent throughout and the use of music and pianos ties the story and the characters together nicely. However, although the setting is in Glasgow, it's easy to forget that when none of the main or supporting characters are Scottish. The relationship between Danny and Victoria, who is supposedly 18 in the film, and it's romantic undertones is also odd and somewhat inappropriate considering the drastic age gap between the two.

The action scenes are, of course, fantastic, relying heavily on Jet Li's martial arts skills and featuring lengthy scenes of hand to hand combat that are crisp and well choreographed. The fight scene with the man in white at the climax of the film is particularly good.

All in all, although this film is hard pressed to stand out amongst the slew of big action films, this is a little gem of a film for martial arts fans who like a good story with their action.