In this film, Jet Li plays Danny, a human 'dog' raised like an animal by Bob Hoskin's ruthless gangster. Since he was a boy, Danny has been endlessly subjugated and degraded by his master to such an extent that he is led around with a dog collar strapped to his neck, obeying his every command like a meek child. However, his master also uses Danny's phenomenal fighting skills to his own end, undoing the collar and giving him the instruction to "kill" all those who owe him money. Throughout his life, Danny has blindly followed orders and has no real communication with humanity, his only contact coming from his vicious treatment at the hands of the gangsters and his outbursts of violence against their enemies. And then, one day he escapes and meets a gentle, blind piano tuner who takes him in...
From this relatively simple premise, director Louis Lettierer and writer Luc Besson have managed to change the perceptions of what is to be expected from an English-language Jet Li movie. We still get bone-crunching fight scenes packed with carnage, but these are few and far between compared to the likes of Kiss of the Dragon. Furthermore, the emphasis is on the character development and humanity behind the tale, rather than slow-motion carnage and a hip hop soundtrack. The rulebook may not have been completely shredded per se, but several pages have definitely been torn out.
Central to this is the turn from Li himself. The common perception of the man is as a fighter first and actor second, but here he neatly bucks the trend and provides a highly moving performance. As Danny, he is restrained and meek, saying little and conveying his sense of hopeless naivety with only his facial expressions and mannerisms with quite an extraordinary result. His innocence is not rammed down in a clumsy, heavy-handed manner, but in a slow-paced, touching and intelligent way which breathes more life into his character than ever before. A wise move indeed in the wake of Ong Bak and while none of the action scenes here are as impressive as Tony Jaa's vehicle, it's equally unlikely that Jaa could put in such a delicate performance at this stage of his career so convincingly.
That said, it's not perfect. At a few junctions it seems as though the studios have snipped down the length a tad as some avenues are not fully realised and there's the odd moment of bad-editing in the fights where elbows and fists seemingly miss, but are still greeted with the crunching impact of bodies flying. Also, it's a tad frustrating that some of them aren't more violent than they are. If anything, they hold back on the viciousness a great deal, one pit-based brawl in particular looks set to turn into gory carnage when weapons are introduced, but it is all soon over with only a small amount of viscera. What's more, the casting director made one minor mistake in that Victoria, the piano tuner's daughter looks too old to possibly be eighteen.
These are comparatively minor quibbles though as the film is still an impressive one. Martial arts fans may feel a tad let down, but the depth given to the character change certainly makes up for it. By the time the credits roll, you'll be surprised you never noticed just how sad Jet Li's eyes were before.
From this relatively simple premise, director Louis Lettierer and writer Luc Besson have managed to change the perceptions of what is to be expected from an English-language Jet Li movie. We still get bone-crunching fight scenes packed with carnage, but these are few and far between compared to the likes of Kiss of the Dragon. Furthermore, the emphasis is on the character development and humanity behind the tale, rather than slow-motion carnage and a hip hop soundtrack. The rulebook may not have been completely shredded per se, but several pages have definitely been torn out.
Central to this is the turn from Li himself. The common perception of the man is as a fighter first and actor second, but here he neatly bucks the trend and provides a highly moving performance. As Danny, he is restrained and meek, saying little and conveying his sense of hopeless naivety with only his facial expressions and mannerisms with quite an extraordinary result. His innocence is not rammed down in a clumsy, heavy-handed manner, but in a slow-paced, touching and intelligent way which breathes more life into his character than ever before. A wise move indeed in the wake of Ong Bak and while none of the action scenes here are as impressive as Tony Jaa's vehicle, it's equally unlikely that Jaa could put in such a delicate performance at this stage of his career so convincingly.
That said, it's not perfect. At a few junctions it seems as though the studios have snipped down the length a tad as some avenues are not fully realised and there's the odd moment of bad-editing in the fights where elbows and fists seemingly miss, but are still greeted with the crunching impact of bodies flying. Also, it's a tad frustrating that some of them aren't more violent than they are. If anything, they hold back on the viciousness a great deal, one pit-based brawl in particular looks set to turn into gory carnage when weapons are introduced, but it is all soon over with only a small amount of viscera. What's more, the casting director made one minor mistake in that Victoria, the piano tuner's daughter looks too old to possibly be eighteen.
These are comparatively minor quibbles though as the film is still an impressive one. Martial arts fans may feel a tad let down, but the depth given to the character change certainly makes up for it. By the time the credits roll, you'll be surprised you never noticed just how sad Jet Li's eyes were before.