I saw Unleashed over the weekend and here is my review.

The fight scenes are some of the most brutal I’ve seen.  I’ve watched a fair number of martial arts movies and have followed Jet Li for a while, but this was exceptionally intense.  Danny (Li) wasn’t just fighting to neutralize a threat, he was fighting to hurt people, and hurt people he did.  Hard, fast, and continuously.

At 40 Li still has his chops (sorry, couldn’t resist).  His legendary speed and agility are mind-boggling.  He attacks people like a jackhammer, relentlessly and without mercy.  At least in the first part of the movie.  Yep, he experiences an awakening and gets in touch with his humanity, but this is far from a chick flick.  And his return to humanity doesn’t mean an end to the action.

Unleashed is a movie that revolves around what makes us human, what separates us from those who choose to behave like animals.  In most of Li’s past movies he mainly fought without a lot of acting required.  This movie has some of his best acting to date.  He actually had to play a character instead of just walking around beating people up.  In preparing for the role of Danny he studied the behavior of small children and dogs to emulate the behavior of somebody brought up in conditions that prevented normal social development.

Morgan Freeman is, well, he’s Morgan Freeman.  He plays his usual reserved, level-headed character again.  A good performance, but probably not his most memorable.

Guys, I’d recommend checking it out.  It’s not one for the kiddies, though.  The violence is intense, and the thugs use the F-word for punctuation in their speech.  (Yeah- I’m one of those guys who still believes in maintaining civility around ladies and children.)  

I saw "Unleashed" with my brother-in-law.

My review: It sucked. Not just sorta-sucked...it really sucked.

80% of the movie is watching a blind piano tuner, Morgan Freeman, cultivate a friendship with Jet Li, through the magical power of piano music.

The fight scenes were good, for what it's worth, but didn't come close to making up for the other 80% of the movie.

What do you do with a martial arts superstar, who has no acting ability? You make a character out of him that isn't able to speak due to being kept like an animal.

Scale of 1 - 10?

-7

I guess it annoys you when those pesky things like plot, dialogue, and character development interrupt the action?

Quoted: I guess it annoys you when those pesky things like plot, dialogue, and character development interrupt the action?

If you call an illiterate, non-speaking "animal-man" grunting as Morgan Freeman teaches him piano to be a "plot", you and I have much different standards for what qualifies as a decent story.

They delveloped Bruce Willis' character in Die Hard, except he spent the entire movie kicking ass, not playing the friggin' piano.

Happy you enjoyed it though. If I required the same level of "plot" you do, I'm sure I'd enjoy many, many more movies than I actually do.

Oh, that hurt.

I'm not going to apologize for liking the movie.

What did you think of Casblanca?  Did it suck because the characters talked too much and the only special effects were a few blanks and a fog machine?  

Not that this movie was the equivalent of Casablanca, but it illustrates the principle.

I'll put this one in the hands of the ARFcom jury.

Guys, check the movie out and post your opinions.

saw it and liked it. I'd give it a 7.5

i saw it last night. it was a decent flick, but it's definately a rental movie.

my friend tells me that jet li took a year off of fighting to work on his acting, and it shows.

i'd give it a 7/10

Quoted: my friend tells me that jet li took a year off of fighting to work on his acting, and it shows.

What???  

He was definitely not a slouch when it came to his fighting.

The fight in the loo was great close quarter combat.  

He has the moves.  

I read t he plot summary of it and I dunno....it just sounded like it was written by a 13 yo.

Quoted: I read t he plot summary of it and I dunno....it just sounded like it was written by a 13 yo.

I don't think that quite qualifies.

Quoted: Oh, that hurt. I'm not going to apologize for liking the movie. What did you think of Casblanca?  Did it suck because the characters talked too much and the only special effects were a few blanks and a fog machine?   Not that this movie was the equivalent of Casablanca, but it illustrates the principle.

A) Didn't ask for an apology.

B) Humphrey Bogart is an actor by trade. Jet Li, a martial artist. I'd have been disappointed in Casablanca if Bogart spent most of the movie trying to do back flip kicks instead of acting. I'd be disappointed seeing Chris Farley do Hamlet. I'd be disappointed watching two boxers debate instead of fight. Jet Li's acting s.u.c.k.s. They should feature what he can actually do, and that is fight...not get all choked up on a piano bench.

Quoted: Quoted: my friend tells me that jet li took a year off of fighting to work on his acting, and it shows. What???   He was definitely not a slouch when it came to his fighting. The fight in the loo was great close quarter combat.   He has the moves.

sorry, shoulda been more clear about that. his acting skills show.

Quoted: Quoted: I guess it annoys you when those pesky things like plot, dialogue, and character development interrupt the action? If you call an illiterate, non-speaking "animal-man" grunting as Morgan Freeman teaches him piano to be a "plot", you and I have much different standards for what qualifies as a decent story. They delveloped Bruce Willis' character in Die Hard, except he spent the entire movie kicking ass, not playing the friggin' piano. Happy you enjoyed it though. If I required the same level of "plot" you do, I'm sure I'd enjoy many, many more movies than I actually do.

Yep. I posted when I saw this advising people to stay away. The movie is a sham. Good action, but it's a very,very small part of the movie. Acting is horrible. Dialog is worse. It doesn't even rise to the level of an ABC afterschool special. A class of 8 year old could write a play with more compelling and realistic dialog. It's a stinky,smelly turd of a movie.

The story was corny.

Where did he learn these martial arts skills?

Did uncle train him, while keeping him locked up in a cage since childhood.

Oh, here's my favorite part of the whole movie:

Jet li escapes his captors and managees to run into the only black, blind, american piano in scottland who is in the country with his white 18 year old step daughter who is studying piano at the same school jet li's mom went to years ago.

Yeah, ok. Guess the producers were smoking some really good crack on the day they approved the script.