This is a review/rant I dug up that I had written the weekend Danny the Dog aka Unleashed was released in North America. It seems I was pretty upset at the US treatment it was given. . .
(May 14, 2005)
I am reading the reviews for Unleashed(the title is my first point). and I have realized just how ignorant and stupid the average film critic can be!
Unleashed, or I should say DANNY THE DOG, being as how that is its non-lame ass generic title, is one of the most original and touching films I have seen in a long time. And Jet Li was fantastic! But wait, he ACTED! Well I'm sorry average film critic, I AM a Jet Li fan and I am not dissapointed. You know what, he may be a martial artist, but he is also an actor. And his talents easily shine in this film. But all these critics are so stereotypical of him, that they think because he is not fighting every 5 minutes, that its a bad movie. I actually read a review that said "The nicer Jet Li is, the poorer the movie" and "Jet Li fans will be dissapointed" Bullshit! I speak for all Li fans when I say these jokers are full of shit!
In Danny the Dog, we see a side of Li that has never been shown to most US movie go-ers, and he does it so well. You don't see the same Jet li that you did in his inferior Hollywood films such as Romeo Must Die,Cradle to the Grave etc. You see a completely different person. I am sorry folks, he is not just some chinese guy who knows Kung Fu. He is fully capable of acting in a film without throwing a single punch if he ever wanted. I am not saying I did not enjoy the fights, they were brilliant! But they were only a fraction of what the movie had to offer.
The story of Danny, what a great story! Also the inclusion of Morgan Freeman, and Bob Hoskins added a rare blend that balanced the overall film so well. The sceens with Hoskins, and Morgan were as different as night and day. We jump from a sweet story of a man finding himself, and being invited into the loving arms of strangers who will soon accept him as a part of their family! Then when we all feel nice and warm, and everything is happy, in a literal bump! We are taken back to the heartless brutal world of the menacing Uncle Bart! But do we see the same Danny this time? No, he has developed the ability to think for himself. At the beginning he was not fighting, he was destroying life. We was trying to hurt! But now he does not want to hurt anymore, he is doing what martial arts really is, the art of not being hit! He is defending himself.
I could rant all day, but I have seen the movie twice with two different crowds, FULL seated crowds. And as I looked around I can see the reactions. People like this movie, people who like violent movies will like it, people who hate senceless violence, will like it. people who watch movies for a great story will like it. And despite popular beliefs from our ignorant critics(not all but too many) Jet Li fans will like it!
But you know what, as I read the User reviews, I realize that a critics opinion means nothing. Its the people who go to the movies because they want to see it that matters. And though this is not everyones movie. At least the users know a good film when they see it!
I agree. They should have wrote a bookand did more back story would have been even better.
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