Le Baiser mortel du dragon

This is definitely Jet Li's best action movie since he came over from Hong Kong. Some scenes reminiscent of Fist of Legend in this one. Quite well choreographed fight scenes with good realistic violence a la Bruce Lee. The plot is rather formulaic, as is much of the dialogue (I expected better from Besson), but the movie has a bit of the 'Nikita' flair (guys going crazy with fully automatic weapons in public places). A bit too much talking and not enough fighting, but far superior to 'Romeo Must Die'. The use of no wires is also a very nice touch. Best action movie of this summer so far. (8/10)

The action scenes in "Kiss of the Dragon" are outstanding. The skill of the players, and their direction is nonpareil. One doesn't see any of the little scenes where two or three fighters are jumping up and down waiting for their cues. Pay attention to the fight scene in the police training room. I think its the best I've seen. A trademark of Jet Li films seems to be a display of the highest quality martial arts. His skills, and those of his antagonists, provide detailed and polished confrontations that are simply thrilling. And I love those needles!

The pace of the film is excellent too. The action just keeps coming. There is just enough talking and character interaction to keep the plot alive and well. Bridget Fonda manages well in a role I think was not really designed for her. She is one of those actors who always finds her character and makes it work.

The film is violent, to be sure. And the bad guys are the worst. Their blatant, public methods are almost too much to believe. Still, the pace of the action leaves one little time to ponder details. One element I wish the director had left out is Jet Li dodging about a thousand rounds of full auto gunfire. Everyone seems compelled to shoot such scenes, but two guns raking rounds across the hotel lobby could not possibly miss. It is virtually enfilade fire, and no one could get through that. Otherwise, the firearms action was believable and thrilling to watch.

Even the music, though not my style, seems to work well with the action. The director puts it all together in a wild ride I can recommend to any action film fan.

‘Kiss of the Dragon' might be just another ‘action/martial arts' movie that is sitting on the shelf of your local video store. However once you start to watch it, you will realise that like some of its characters, it is a movie that is very deceptive and will leave you breathless. With the screenplay based on the story written by star Jet Li himself, this film has moments that no-one could ever comprehend seeing. While Li might be criticised for being ‘one dimensional' in his movie roles, it has to be said that he is one of the best martial arts actors going around at the present time.

Liu, a Chinese intelligence officer, goes to Paris on assignment and becomes embroiled in a deadly conspiracy. When the man he has come to help betrays him, he is forced on the run, accused of a murder he didn't commit. He teams up with Jessica, an American woman forced into prostitution against her will, who wants to escape and seek justice. As Jessica and Liu go up against cunning and ruthless adversaries, Liu makes a promise to Jessica that could compromise his career, even his life.

The star of this film is Liu (Jet Li), who is an expert Chinese cop sent to stop an international drug conspiracy. He is traveling to the city of Paris for the first time, making it totally alien to him. Liu carries only a gun and needles which are rapt around his wrist. These are acupuncture needles, which he has the skill to use, to help heal his friends or kill his enemies. The finale action sequence has Liu refer to the title of the film, whereby the use of a needle technique called ‘Kiss of the Dragon', which is highly illegal, as it must be, which can disrupt the body's blood flow, making all the blood travel to the head and then killing the person as it tries to escape from whatever cavity it can. This scene was astonishing to see being played out.

The supporting cast in ‘Kiss of the dragon' consists of Jessica (beauty Bridget Fonda), a girl who is forced to take drugs and be a prostitute by French Police inspector Richard (Tcheky Karyo). You do not refuse Richard, as the consequences could be fatal. He has many henchmen that are on the lookout for ‘John' (Liu), as he has the evidence that could destroy Richard. Along the way Jessica meets up with Liu and they help each other out of sticky situations that have arisen. I enjoy the role taken on by Fonda a lot, as her character gives the story its emotion and balance whereby she helps Liu get around Paris.

I like how and where this movie was presented. The director shows off Paris in many ways, such as landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, which is cleverly incorporated through a fighting sequence. The director Chris Nahon was able to do this, via producer and screenwriter Luc Besson's help in getting leading cinematographer Thierry Arbogast, who did some great work. While the story might be simple on the surface, who can complain when there is such great action scenes to compensate.

This then leads me into ‘Kiss of the dragon's' action and stunts which are exhilarating. Li's character has many fighting sequences that you would believe he has no hope of winning. The start of the film makes uncertain of what is going to happen, then in the blink of an eye you are presented with action and stunts that will leave you speechless. The one scene at the start which shows Liu slamming a billiard ball to kill a villain was unbelievable. Then the fighting scenes at the shop, boat, office building and orphanage are full-on, making them intoxicating to the viewers. However one of the final fighting scenes with Liu taking on a whole class of Black belts is hilarious, as you know he is going to win.

‘Kiss of the Dragon' works, because where the story is lacking, the action and fighting scenes take up the slack. Jet Li has done some good movies, such as `Lethal Weapon 4' and ‘Romeo Must Die' where he shows off all his martial art skills. If you have not seen him in either of those films, then watch them by all means. Finally, I want to mention that I have had many treatments of acupuncture in 2002 which have helped me immensely. However, when I have my next treatment of those ‘little needles' I might squirm a bit, being quick to remember what Liu could do with an acupuncture needle.

CMRS gives ‘Kiss of the Dragon': 4 (Very Good Film)

As part of an international case, Chinese police officer Liu Jian comes to France to assist his opposite number in a sting operation. However, Richard turns out to be on the wrong side of the law and frames Liu for the murder of several key people in the case. Liu goes on the run with evidence that he didn't commit the crimes, with only the word of an innocent prostitute to back him up. With even the Chinese embassy unable to bring Liu in, he is forced to try and expose the corruption and take the fight to them.

With so many of Jet Li's American movies being pretty messy disappointments, it was no surprise that I just gave this a miss when it came out at the cinema and never got round to seeing it on video. However on television the only thing I am wasting is my own time (not money) so I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised to find that, though not comparable to his best films, Kiss of the Dragon is easily one of the best films that he has made outside of Hong Kong. The plot may have been made up by Li and turned to a script by Luc Besson but it does come off as a bit obvious and overblown. At times the dialogue is a bit heavy and there are a few moments where the film is a bit talky for a bit long without any of it coming to a great deal but mostly it is pretty enjoyable. It is not a great story but there is enough to engage even if it is pretty poor in some ways – the whole coincidence around Liu meeting Jessica again was a bit shoddily done but the detail is not that important in this sort of film.

No, what is important is the quality of the action and here it is a lot better than his recent films such as Romeo or Cradle. The action scenes are scattered a bit thin around the film at times but generally they are enjoyable sequences which are pretty exciting and fluid. The film is refreshingly free of flying and wiring work, lending the fight scenes a more realistic (!?) and brutal air. Not only are the fight scenes good but the mix of the usual action movie 'guns n' running' stuff is also well handled with some pretty fast scenes.

The cast are pretty good even if the international mix of actors all in Paris is a bit strange. Li is natural and pretty good – I have always maintained he is a good actor (or at least a charismatic leading man) but most American movies have forced him to be silent and posturing to match the gangbanging story. Here he plays a good character as well as being given plenty of good fights to show how technically able he is. Fonda is OK even if she is a strange casting decision for this character; she does well enough but at times I could have accepted less of her as she is the reason for a lot of the talky stuff that could have been scaled back. Karyo just simply hams it up so much that it would have been possible to actually glaze him at some points near the end. He is effectively bad and it works but he is on auto-pilot for a lot of this. The support cast are all OK, although some of Li's sparring partners are obviously not that good at acting (the white twins are good examples) but fans of Harry Hill or the Pink Panther will find much amusement from the minor role given to Burt Kwouk!

Overall this is a good film in its own right but, compared to Li's other American films so far, this is by far the best. The plot is pretty run of the mill but still engages but some parts of the film are a bit too talky for no real reason. The fight scenes are pretty brutal and are better for not overdosing on wire-fu stuff and my only complaint about them was that there could have been a few more. Of course, this doesn't really compare to the best of Li's Hong Kong material but it is still much better than the rest of his American stuff and is worth a look for fans of martial arts action.

Liu Jian (aka "Johnny") is a top level cop from Bejing on temporary assignment in Paris to aid French police in a sting operation to take down a Chinese heroine kingpin. But things go bad and a double-cross ensues, leaving Liu Jian framed for murder and running for his life. One is thing certain, though, our hero won't be taken without a fight... a really good fight... and a few more after that. Luc Besson's screenplay isn't exactly creative, but given the genre, it's pretty darn good. I know I sure sighed with relief that Liu Jian (played with subtle excellence by Jet Li) wasn't driven by some emotionally haunting past, like the death of a wife and child, as is so typical in super-cop action films. In fact, we get just the opposite--a man who simply loves his job and does it very well, but is still human enough to make mistakes, feel pain and make realistic choices (well, mostly).

The story isn't without its flaws, however. Mindless thugs do play their part and there is an utterance of the most over-used villain line of all time: "Bring him to me alive; I'll deal with him myself" (or something to that affect). But somehow, it doesn't sound quite so corny coming from actor Tcheky Karyo (as Inspector Jean-Pierre Richard), who manages to play the heartless villain with a great deal of intelligence. Rounding out the cast is Bridget Fonda's Jessica, the prostitute with a good heart and, yes, a young daughter in jeopardy. But despite its few formulaic shortcomings, Kiss of the Dragon still delivers.

What really stands out in this film is the way the fight sequences flow with the rest of the story, unlike so many other movies that seem to be constructed around a few preconceived action scenes. It's a martial arts action film done right. Thanks to the superb direction of Chris Nahon, Kiss of the Dragon is classy, well paced and gives us a near perfect blend of drama and levity (no ridiculous one-liners here, but definitely some laughs along the way). Best of all, Nahon engages the audience and makes the story work to a reasonable level of believability.