Unleashed Unleashed

Serve No Master

Raised as a slave, Danny is used to fighting for his survival. In fact, his "master," Bart, thinks of him as a pet and goes as far as leashing him with a collar so they can make money in fight clubs, where Danny is the main contender. When Bart's crew is in a car accident, Danny escapes and meets a blind, kindhearted piano tuner who takes him in and uses music to free the fighter's long-buried heart.

Jet Li Morgan Freeman Bob Hoskins Vincent Regan Dylan Brown Tamer Hassan Phyllida Law Michael Jenn Carole Ann Wilson Kerry Condon Mike Lambert Puthirith Chou Jaclyn Tze Wey Georgina Chapman Tony Theng Owen Lay Andy Beckwith Franck Xie Cheng Michael Webber Danielle Louise Harley

Europa Corp.

foreign drama thriller crime action

103 mins   More details at IMDb / TMDb

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  • roosters93

    Review by roosters93 ★★★

    Weird little film. Combines great action sequences with a unusual narrative for a martial arts film. The scenes with his owner and blind morgan freeman and stepdaughter feel like two entirely different films until they eventually combine in the conclusion. Not what I expected and was enjoyable enough. Not deserving of rewatching though.

  • Jaime

    Review by Jaime ★★★★

    Bob Hoskins, Morgan Freeman and Jet Li. Who'd a thunk that combination would have made a great martial arts flick.

  • Aaron King

    Review by Aaron King ★★★ 2

    This film has some smart ideas in it mixed in with all of the crazy fights but that doesn't always make for a good film.

  • Jack1704

    Review by Jack1704 ★ 2

    I have spent 15 minutes trying to see how I could right noise of me huffing. Nope still struggling.

    Jet Li kicking the crap out of stuff is in the main good but becomes very samey. Everything else outside of this is so stupidly ridiculous it makes everything else get tarnished with the same brush.

    I was also unsure as why Morgan Freeman thought it was fancy dress and came as Stevie Wonder/Ray Charles.

    Vanilla is white

  • Brendan Sparrow

    Review by Brendan Sparrow ★★★½

    Some pretty incredible action cinematography—paired with a better back story than most of its ilk—makes Unleashed a very watchable martial arts flick. Jet Li gets to show off his acting chops while Bob Hoskins cranks up his cockney accent to play evil uncle Bart.

  • Niels Owesen

    Review by Niels Owesen ★★★

    I watched Unleashed years ago as a teenager and was surprised to see it show Jet Li's acting skills and an intelligent story for its genre.
    On second viewing I have to qualify that to some extent.

    1. Jet Li is better than one could expect from a Martial Arts fighter, but he is nowhere near good acting.
    2. The story is much too simple and relies too much on everybody's sympathy for Morgan Freeman. Take him away from it and you realize about the dull dialogue, the awful characterization and Freeman's 18 year old stepdaughter who doesn't look like 18 years at all.

    That said, the movie is still better than many others, it has a few laughs and a few dramatic moments and well choreographed action sequences. If you are just looking for some light entertainment, this is might be the right film to watch.

  • George Yang

    Review by George Yang ★★★

    Considering the past Jet Li Hollywood films, this one is different. It is not filled with rap stars and with seemingly countless fighting scenes. This one has an underlying story and not many fighting scenes. If I remember right, there are only four major fighting scenes. Of course, depending on everyone’s taste, this might be a good or bad thing, especially if you are a martial-art fanatic who only cares about beating up someone until they bleed in every possible way. Personally, I enjoyed the story, even though I still found it to be a bit loose and weak, but I think it is excusable since it is an action movie.

    Another major difference is Jet Li’s acting. In his…

  • Michael

    Review by Michael ★★★

    Trotz der guten Schauspieler kommt der Film bei nicht über drei Sterne hinaus. Die Story langweilt mich als Zuschauer zwar nicht und der Film besticht sowohl durch gute “Martial Arts”-Sequenzen als auch durch seine ernsten Szenen, allerdings hatte ich gesamt betrachtet durchgehend das Gefühl, dass sich Regisseur Louis Letterier (The Transporter) und Drehbuchautor Luc Besson (Taxi, New York Taxi, Léon) lieber für eine Richtung hätten entscheiden sollen. So beginnt der Film mit furiosen Kampfszenen während einer Geldeintreibetour von Bob und seinem menschlichen Hund Danny, verlangsamt das Tempo danach aber derart, dass es schon einen Moment Überwindung kostet sich weiterhin auf den Film einzulassen, welche am Ende aber mit einem fulminanten Showdown belohnt wird.
    In meinen Augen ist der ernste Mittelteil…

  • alexander

    Review by alexander ★★★

    Jet Li not only showing off his impressive martial art skills, he also shows he is capable of acting, something Hollywood normally doesn't require from him.
    Bob Hoskins is equally impressive as a real nasty british 'bulldog'.