plot :
jet li is a chinese cop asked to help some french policemen nab a bad guy .
but one thing leads to another , and the next thing you know
, li 's being chased by the same french cops with whom he was supposed to be working .
a lot of ass - kicking , face - whippings , gun fights
and . . . okay , a little more ass - kicking ensues .
critique : very cool !
now here 's a movie that gives you exactly what you 're looking for
, if what you 're looking for is kickass action , a palpable good cop / bad cop story line , some hardcore stunts and jet li slam - dunking everyone in sight !
the film also moves fast ( a mere 95 minutes ) , develops a certain " cute " chemistry between fonda and li , has nice surroundings
( paris , baby ! )
and gives us one of the best bad guys that i 've seen all year .
tcheky karyo is the devil incarnate in this film .
he is pure evil .
they should have called this movie bad lieutenant 2 as keitel has nothing on this man .
what a great , great monster !
my favorite line of tcheky 's was when li was explaining the whole " kiss of the dragon " thing to him
and he cut him off by saying " kiss my ass !
" pure action movie poetry .
anyway , other than him , jet li also handled his " acting " pretty well in this film , with very little real dialogue to say , but enough to make us believe his character .
actually , just looking into the man 's eyes generally tells you a lot .
fonda was also pretty good , despite playing one of the most trashy and abused women that i have seen in quite some time , but i still felt kinda bad for her
, so i guess she did her job
okay .
but in the end , nobody goes to see this kind of movie for oscar performances .
we go to see jet li movies because we want to see jet li kicking a lot of ass from side to side , and this film delivers gangbusters on that front .
and yes . . .
they have no wire - fu in this movie .
. .
i say again . . .
no wire - work , no bullshit stunts with li floating around in mid - air for over a minute .
it 's all straight action , fist to fist , boot to face and all around cool stunts .
if that 's what you 're looking for ,
i do n't see how you will be disappointed with this film .
yes , it 's not very original in plot ( just take luc besson 's own la femme nikita and mix in plenty of his own the professional et voila ! ) , does have an annoying hip - hoppy soundtrack that just got on my nerves after a while ( i also would have gotten rid of the whole acupuncture thang . . . ) and will have anyone not willing to restrain their disbelief , rolling their eyes all over the place .
but was i entertained ?
thoroughly .
does the film feature more gunplay , martial arts and over - the - top kills that most recent action flicks ?
yes , again .
does this sound interesting to you ?
well , the answer to that question is entirely up to you .
one thing that i would definitely recommend is , as jet li pointed out himself on his website , that you leave the kids at home for this one .
in fact , you might even wanna
leave yourself if you ca n't handle the more violent of sequences .
all in all , a rippin ' , roarin ' fun time !
where 's joblo coming from ?
black mask ( 5/10 )
- blade ( 7/10 ) - la femme nikita
( 8/10 ) - lethal weapon 4 ( 7/10 ) - the matrix ( 8/10 ) -
the professional ( 9/10 ) - romeo must die ( 3/10 ) - rush hour ( 7/10 ) - shanghai noon ( 6/10 )
Output: P