I find myself finally indulging my long-nascent love for martial arts movies, and this road has taken me rather directly from Bruce Lee and the Bruceploitation films of the 70s and early 80s to Jet Li, whom I consider to be the most worthy successor to Bruce Lee working today. I won't even compare him to the Dragon because he is definitely his own man, one steeply trained in both the physical and philosophical ways of the martial arts. He has a compact yet powerful, no-nonsense approach to his fight scenes, and what you get is pretty much the real deal no invisible cables, no stuntman, no fakery, and most importantly no cheesiness. Kiss of the Dragon is my first Jet Li film, and I am glad to say that I was in no way disappointed. There may not be as much fighting in this film as you might find elsewhere, but this is by no means a bad thing. This film revolves around the story and main characters, and the forging of such a strong plotmakes the fight scenes, when they come, all the more enjoyable. Long gone are the days when martial arts movies had weak or nonexistent plots serving no other purpose than to move the film from one fight to the next.Kiss of the Dragon is set in France, which is not your typical setting for kung fu action. Jet Li plays a Chinese cop named Liu Jian, one of China's best, sent to France to help the authorities there nab a Chinese drug dealer. The expected drug bust goes as far removed from planned as can be (at least from Liu Jian's point of view). The whole thing was a set-up by the French police chief (played to the despicable max by Tcheky Karyo), leaving Liu Juan on the run and accused of murder. Liu Juan must evade the authorities and somehow get the proof he needs to put the real bad guy away. Bridget Fonda, an actress I have admired for some time, is wonderful in the role of Jessica, a sort-of witness to the initial murders and reluctant cohort to Richard. She is a reluctant prostitute whom Richard keeps under his thumb; he has her daughter, so her options in life are quite limited until she eventually meets up with Liu Jian, that is. It is at this point we see the moving humanity that lies beneath the bedraggled, desperately hopeless prostitute that Jessica has been forced to become. Liu Jian vows to get her daughter back, and you can pretty much rely on the fact that he will have one more chance to tell Richard face-to-face not to call him "Johnny."
There are a lot of action sequences in this film, all of which are quite good, but these only complement rather than subsume the gripping movement of this story. Jet Li takes on all comers, including a room full of police cadets, making use of his hands, feet, and mind along with any helpful props that he finds readily available. I particularly enjoyed the scene wherein he beat up a few corrupt French authorities with the French flag I could watch that all day. It was also nice to see several bad guys attack him at once, rather than patiently waiting for each other to be taken out one by one. The final confrontation may have the look of letdown at first, but the viewer is soon rewarded with a rather gruesome and certainly deserved downfall of a thoroughly disgusting fellow. It is here that you will discover the significance of the movie's title. I could not help but wonder at the lack of reaction to all the mayhem by innocent standers-by, however. These guys basically shoot up half of France, turning a fancy hotel into a war zone, battling it out on tops of boats and buses, blowing up buildings, etc., yet there was no observable sense of panic or sound of mind-shattering screams coming from the significant population slated to become collateral damage statistics.
The DVD comes absolutely loaded with extras. You get a commentary by Jet Li, Bridget Fonda, and director Chris Nahon, a featurette on the making of the movie, a fascinating exploration by Jet Li of his martial arts style, background, and philosophy, a look at the choreography (including a few preparatory demos) of the action sequences with Jet Li and fight choreographer Cory Yuen, a theatrical trailer and half dozen TV spots for the film, and a couple of storyboard to film comparisons. Jet Li is the best martial arts actor working today, and Kiss of the Dragon has everything a good film of this type needs: a great story, characters you really come to care about, terrific action sequences, and a quite satisfying ending.
The fight scenes are incredible and full of impact. The story, which carries a very dark tone, never lags. You really feel a sense of hatred towards the main villain and feel for the prostitute. Finally, a martial arts movie where the story isn't ridiculous. There are occasional exaggerated scenes, but in all honesty, they gel well with the flow.
When anyone asks for an action film, I always have recommended this. I also warn them that this action film contains a plot...so don't be surprised. There are not many films out there that pull this off...the one other one that really stands out at the moment is the "Bourne Identity." Only "Kiss" has more martial arts. Love it!
Buy Kiss of the Dragon (2001) Now
I decided to see this movie when it came out expecting to see what I saw in the usual Jet Li movies, wire-works (some of you kung-fu movie watchers know what I am talking about, but if you don't, wire-works is when the actor or stunt man is suspended in air or swinging on a cable performing unusual fighting moves). Wire-works are cute, but I do not like them because they are slow and take me away from the action most of the time. This movie HAS NO WIRE WORKS in the action sequences. I was so happy, finally a martial arts movie for the new millennium not caught into the new-old trend to hit Hollywood. The martial arts scenes are fast, rough, brutal, and are simply what Bruce Lee fans want to see. There was a fight scene Jet Li had in a dojo that reminded me of Chinese Connection a.k.a. "Fist of Fury".The story was not bad; it was good for a martial arts action movie. Personally I would have made the movie a bit longer (like 10 or 20 minutes) to make sure people know exactly why things are going on. Its workable but would have been perfect with a little bit of information. The big one in the beginning such as the French investigator and the Chinese drug boss, the movie doesn't tell you their connection exactly but it's implied.
Li is an overly devoted cop, so he doesn't have much to work with until he meets Fonda's character, there his character is not just doing the job but being a character. Fonda's character used to be addicted to drugs and is a forced-to-be prostitute. So her reactions were pretty not bad for Fonda's acting and I thought she did a good job for her given character.
The score is done by Craig Armstrong (from Massive Attack), which is cool of techno/orchestra. Also there are some hip-hop songs thrown in two of the fight scenes. The one by Mystikal was bearable because of the drum beat (not a bass electronic beat) so it felt OK. Personally I don't like rap in fight scenes cause the talking (rapping) might take it away. I like rap in the background or to set a scene, not in a fight scene, unless it is instrumental.
Read Best Reviews of Kiss of the Dragon (2001) Here
I have been a fan of Jet Li for a long time and his first American/english speaking movies like Lethal Weapon 4 and Romeo Must Die were not too bad but they didn't quite show Jet's true speed and ability....and then Kiss Of the Dragon came out and ended all that. This is tied with Fist of Legend as my all time favorite Jet Li movie. He completely goes all out in the fighting in this movie using no tricks at all but instead just his own style of lighting fast kung fu. What also makes this movie good is that it was produced by Luc Besson who's top cameraman directed this and did a phenomenal job. It should also be said that for a man who has only been speaking English for a handful of years, Jet's english is so fluent you could never tell. He really shows that he can act in this which also surprised me. So if you want a good story, smooth style, and hardcore insane martial arts get this movie, believe me you will enjoy it.Want Kiss of the Dragon (2001) Discount?
This is the very first time I have ever rented a movie without much of a positive expectation, viewed it, returned it early and immediately purchased the DVD of it. I have long been a fan of Jet Li, and have always regarded his "Fist of Legend" as his best film, but I can't help that this film seemed to be made specifically to satisfy every desire I have ever had for a Jet Li film.Well, it was just one simple desire really. I just badly wanted to see him extremely angry and go through an entire building of people, so given the climax of this movie, I was quite satisfied. The plot is generic, and Fonda in perticular has weak moments. I won't say she was competely terrible, because she does have her good moments as well, but I never really got the impression she could play off Jet Li that well throughout the whole movie. The fight scenes in this film are absolutely spectacular, and up to quality with the best Jet Li films. If I were to demonstrate how incredibly gifted and amazing Jet Li's abilities are, I would use this film. Tcheky Karyo, already an actor that I enjoyed, shines very bright as the villan in this film.
The DVD is more loaded than you would probably think, and has various featurettes, trailers and a commentary track that Fonda absolutely dominates. You will be yearning throughout the entire thing for her to stop talking and Jet Li to perk up. However, there are behind the scenes fight-choreography footage feeaturettes that are an awesome added bonus. The DVD transfer and audio were excellent.
Absolutely a must purchase, and would be a fantastic Jet Li introduction to anyone that hasn't seen him before.
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