Film 2005 With Mad Dog MacGroyn

[Holden MacGroyn]

Well chums, it's been awhile since the last decent offering or one shit enough to bash to buggery.

On the menu tonight, is Unleashed also known as Danny The Dog.
It stars Jet Li, Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman.

Once hailed as the next Bruce Lee, Jet Li had a lot to live up for.
Let's be honest here, there will never be another Bruce Lee but that is actually a good thing.
Why dear forumites? Simple; it means we don't have to put up with a plethora of talentless imitators like Bruce Li, Lung, Lim, Ree, Lo etc
Jet remains Jet and he just gets better and better.
His latest epic is written by French legend Luc Besson, the man that brought us the classic Subway, Leon, Taxi & the more big budget, Fifth Element.

Now usually in a martial arts film, you are left with zero to non-existant plot and no chance of any character apathy.
Originally titled Danny The Dog, Unleashed delivers in both of these and to be honest, isn't exactly a martial arts film.

Set in Anytown, Britain, Unleashed is the story of Danny, an orphan played by Li, who has been "adopted" by a ruthless debt collector played by Bob Hoskins.

From a young age, Li has been trained to fight like an animal and is only sedate when a metal collar is placed around his neck by Bart (Bob Hoskins).
As a result, whenever a debt isn't payed, the collar comes off and Danny does his thing albeit it with aplomb.

Now this is where the martial arts takes on a new front.
Gone are the over the top wire work suckfests and in place is some truly brutal and hardcore fighting and yes, even some serious hairpulling not seen since those two girls in class 4B had a dispute over who loved Duran Duran more.

Now don't get me wrong, there is some wire work but it's not as in your face as that train wreck of a film Charlie's Angles or the Matrix sequels but the fights themselves are incredibly brutal.
Gone is the flowing style of Wu Shu or the textbook kicks of Tae Kwon Do and in place is a barrage of knuckle cracking fury.

When a particular incident goes wrong in an amazing set piece comparable to the sharpest of scenes in Lock Stock or Snatch, (see how I don't spoil it for you) Danny is left to fend for himself.

He finds his way and is eventually taken care of by a blind Piano tuner called Sam played by the brilliantlyy charismatic Morgan Freeman and his step-daughter Victoria (Kerry Condon).
Now this is where we get our second dose of 'new to martial arts films'...a story!

Jet Li begins to realise there is more to life than smashing kneecaps and breaking spinal columns.
He discovers the joys of "fruit", "ice-cream" & "kisses".
From having been raised like a caged animal, he gets to experience the outside world with often funny results.

As for permances, Jet Li really does get a chance to act in this one.
His previous western forays didn't give him enough time to create his character or for the audience to identify with him, but here, even though the pace is explosive in parts, you are still able to feel pity and sympathy for Danny.
Pretty soon, you forget that you are watching a martial arts film at all.

Bob Hoskins is his usual charming self in the role of Bart and really does a good job of playing an evil bastard.

Morgan Freeman is still a cool bastard and helps keep the story moving smoothly.

The action may not be up to the standards of the wonderfully sublime Ong Bak, but the story delivers and it's so good to see the Brits involved in this one....yes there are a couple of Brit fighters in the credits that I know and have trained with in the past.

This film needs a loving home...please, if you can spare a fiver and under two hours of your time, watch it and then go down to Soho to buy your very own dog collar.

So there you have it folks, a review without any of my usual tourettic ranting.
Why?
Simply put, this is a fucking good film and deserves a bit of support.
Should be in cinemas around June 10th in the UK unless you spot Mrs Chan and her shifty sons on the Broadway selling a screener out of a Tesco's bag.

Now I'm off to wrestle my dogs collar off of him and lose my shit in Lonon.

[Arnold Layne]

Ah so that's what it's about, I almost passed on it as well, so I'll watch that Holden, along with Ong bak & Kung fu hustle which I have and still ain't fucking seen yet

[Holden MacGroyn]

You haven't seen Ong Bak???
Shame on you Arnie.

I got it a couple of years back on DVD from Thailand after I caught a brief online making of.
Totally blew me away but I had to guess the plot as it had no subs.
Got a subbed one since, but the action is out of this world and not a single wire work gag in site.
A shame it didn't do so well over here but thats to be expected when it's been available on DVD for the best part of 2 years.

Tony Jaa has finished the follow up movie Tom Yun Goong which has a few chaps from my gym in it....lucky bastards.


I have Kung Fu Hustle but like you, I have yet to watch it.
If you get a chance, check out Steven Chows previous film, Shaolin Soccer.
OTT effects and wirework, but it's one time that I don't mind it.

I'd pay to see their team in the FA anyday!

[nachovx]

It's sad when they have to import a Hollywood name to be able to sell a movie. Morgan Freeman has been so over exposed, it's hard to watch a movie with him in ... it's the "oh no, not him again" factor, he must have a big enough fortune to take it easy for a while ... but the fear factor (and you're only as good as your last movie syndrome) makes them plough on, less they be forgotten forever. He's not the only one in the boat.

[Arnold Layne]

I'm gonna stick it on now just for that!, yeah got Shaolin soccer as well, but just don't get a chance to watch them sometimes, the last film I saw was Oldboy, and that totally blew me away, the scene where he fights all those guys with just a hammer, totally relentless
Are you House of 1000 corpses fan Holden? see Devils rejects (#2) is out soon!

[Holden MacGroyn]

House of a 1000 Corpses...that's Rob Zombies film right?
I haven't got round to watching that.
Is it worth it?


By the way, Mrs Chans sons were on the broadway yesterday.
They lost 150 dvd's as the cops turned up.
There's this fat, dumpy drugged up english dude that's hanging around with them.
He was cunting off his gormless, cross eyed sidekick who was supposed to be keeping an eye out for the filth but couldn't decide which eye to follow.

They make quite a double act.
He asked if he could borrow my mobile.
I was like "Fuck off bitch" so he then asked for 10p to make a call.
I told him the payphones took 20p minimum so he could try skanking someone else for hypodermic money.

I also recommend Sin City.
Picked it up yesterday and by fuck does it look classy or what!

And can you believe that someone from Lucasfilms leaked the workprint?
It is meant to have a couple of extra scenes not in the cinema release.
I'll let you know when I've got round to it.
Plus within a day of it being released, another copy, this time a telecine has been put out.

As my old headmaster would say, "Dizzz-guz-ting"

[Arnold Layne]

Holden, Ong bak.....fucking speechless, funny as fuck as well, with a coolness Hollywood wont be able to remake, (and some gorgeous Thai women, now some decent Thai porn wouldnt go a miss for the toss bank!)
yeah Sin city been doing the rounds for a while now, got the workprint of III as well, I loved 1000 corpses, totally relentless, in an original Chainsaw massacre kinda way, great headbanging soundtrack as well

Dont know if you know about here



Great for import dvds, click on DVD, then multiregion, Ong bak doesnt seem to be on there at the mo, but when it was it was 9.99, incl postage 2 disc as well.
Get some porn from here as well, cheap as fuck,

and here for ratings on preview dvds

[Holden MacGroyn]

I was on vcdquality the other day checking shit out.

Was the 2 disc Ong Bak a DVD or VCD?

I bought the single dvd when it came out in Thailand.

Premiere Asia are going to be releasing it over here as part of a 2 disc special edit.
I myself am sad enough to have about 3gigs of public shows and demos done by Tony Jaa to promote the film.

The follow up Tom Yun Goong has been completed and screened just the once at a film festival.
I have a few mates in it playing bad guys so I'm looking forward to checking their beatings out.


I heard that the E3 WP has a few extra scenes in it not released in the final cinema version.


Oh yeah, to make the link a clicky, you have to add the http://