Unleashed (2005)

Hot Diggety Dawg!

Genre: Action Crime Drama Romance Thriller (USA, France, UK)

Starring: Jet Li (Fearless; Romeo Must Die), Morgan Freeman (Lucky Number Slevin; Se7en)

Directed By: Louis Leterrier (The Transporter 1 & 2)

Overview: This is the story of a man made beast by his owner, given a dog collar and made to serve as a vicious weapon to an extortionist underworld thug. When Danny The Dog is given a chance at a real life with caring people, he seizes the opportunity.

Acting: Bob Hoskins kicks ass in his crime lord role, though the writing really elevated his potential. Jet Li is also getting better at making film, looks like he had a few successful lessons there. Morgan Freeman is also in this so with all these names it's no surprise that this did well for this category.
Rating: 8

Cinematography: The fight scenes are quite something, I must say. The way it was shot was clear and past paced, not like you see in other Kung-Fu movies sometimes, all choppy and too up close. Every fight scene has Danny taking on at least 5 people at a time, so that's amazing. Ad for the rest of the scenes, it's good, with the occasional interesting angle or effect.
Rating: 8

Script: The writing waffled a little. Danny is great, the Boss and his minions have the best lines. The girl and Morgan seem as though they were written by some intern, however. I couldn't quite get into them from time to time, but overall it was a good show.
Rating: 7

Plot: The story is more about the man than the crime and the combat. I actually really liked that they didn't spend most of the focus on the plotline they could have followed: the underground arena. When I found out Danny wasn't into that and did what he could to get out of it to get back to the original plot, I was happy. The ending was a little predictable, but the way it unfolded and the delivery of that last act was very entertaining. Good stuff.
Rating: 8

Mood: The overall mood was one of redemption and investigation of lies of the past. This wasn't rife with symbolism or had too much depth, so you action fans will still get your fix, while those of us who love a good drama too will also be quite pleased. It's the perfect mix of story and Kung-Fu, underdog versus the Big Bad Wolf.
Rating: 8

Still hot but a little less diggety...

Overall Rating: 78% (Rough! Rough!)

Aftertaste: I saw this shortly after watching Oldboy, and though that movie disappointed me a little, I found that I really did like this one. It wasn't as artistic or realistic, but sometimes you want just lots off ass kicking, and this delivers. Yep. Good times.