LOUIS Leterrier's second feature - his follow-up to The Transporter which was also written and produced by Luc Besson - wilfully defies categorisation.
An action-drama set on the mean streets of, um, Glasgow, Unleashed marries martial arts fight sequences with a touching story of redemption between a surrogate father, daughter and son.
It's a curious and not altogether happy cocktail, but amidst the graphic violence there's a likeable film kicking and screaming to be let out.
At the age of four, Danny (Jet Li) was taken under the wing of merciless, fiery-tempered gangster Bart (Bob Hoskins), who has raised and trained him like an animal.
Incarcerated within a metal cage every night, Danny has been conditioned to attack and, if necessary, kill on demand every time his metal dog collar is removed.
The killing machine knows little of the outside world, which is just the way 'Uncle' Bart wants it - Danny is the perfect killing machine and provides the perfect solution to keeping debtors in check.
By chance, Danny meets soft-spoken blind piano tuner Sam (Morgan Freeman), the first man to show him kindness and compassion.
Danny is fascinated by the old timer and escapes from Bart and his henchmen to return home with Sam, where he meets the piano tuner's teenage stepdaughter Victoria (Kerry Condon).
The three lost souls form a most unusual family and Danny is showered with love.
However, Bart eventually tracks down his protege, determined to return Danny to the cage and his bloodthirsty old ways.
It's difficult to know what to make of Unleashed.
To be honest, I don't think the film knows itself what it wants to be, struggling to strike a balance between Li's gravity-defying acrobatics and the domestic drama involving Sam, Victoria and Danny.
The fight sequences are nicely orchestrated and filmed with a refreshing lack of slow motion and visual trickery.
A scene in which Danny engages in a fistfight with a hulking assassin in the claustrophobic confines of an apartment block toilet is comedy gold.
In the film's quieter moments, Li gets to show some emotion for a change.
He still struggles noticeably with English dialogue but that fits with the character, and when his 'dog' whines "I don't want to hurt people anymore", you feel a heartstring being plucked.
Hoskins evokes yet another foul-mouthed, psycho London gangster and Oscar winner Freeman brings gravitas to a something-and-nothing supporting role.
Glasgow is depicted as a rat run of dingy alleyways and warehouses, with one neighbourly grocery store where Sam teaches Danny essential shopping tips like how to sniff and squeeze a ripe melon.
Who said movies aren't educational?
See it at UCI, Odeon
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