Cão de Briga

The film concerns about Danny(an incredible Jet Li) a young man who lives like a slave . He is treated like a dog by his proprietary Bart(a magnificent villain Bob Hoskins)a nasty mobster from Glascow who raised him since child like a savage animal . When Bart unleashes his collar Danny is behaving like a rabid dog and starts hitting and knocking people practicing his natural talent for martial arts.His amazing slickness united to a risk sense converted him in a tournaments champion.Later a car accident is executed by an opposite gangster(a tough Vincent Regan) and Danny flees and shelters at home of a blind tuner of piano named Sam(as always an excellent Morgan Freeman) and his stepdaughter(a charming Kerry Condon).Danny is haunted by the musical sounds which remember him his anterior life.

The picture gets frenetic action, impressive fights with bound and leaps and no stunts but the same actors are the fighters.The struggles are well staged with spectacular choreography in charge of the specialist Woo Ping Yuen(Kill Bill and Matrix).But not only fights but the film has an interesting story(well written by Luc Besson) where a violent Danny is attracted for a familiar feeling .In spite of the crude violence the picture has its agreeable moments here and there narrated with ductility and delicacy and developed with great sense of fairness and sensitivity.The music with a bit of go by Massive attack.The film is produced by the French producer Pierre Spengler with a long career and by the same Jet Li(Cradle 2,Hero,The one,Kiss of dragon) .The motion picture is well directed by Louis Leterrier(Tansporteur I and II). The movie will like to Jet Li fans and martial arts enthusiastic. Rating Better than average, well worth watching.

The style of this movie and how the story unfolded makes me rank this an 8. As a fan of massive attack I was taken by how dark and edgy the texture of the movie became due to their soundtrack.

It's obvious that the production team of Luc Besson's has a larger budget to work with. And they are exploring ways to tell an action story. Transporter 1 was better than 2 because of the soundtrack. And here again the music compliments the emotional content.

Granted, some of the characters and scenes did appear amateurish, but the pieces are being put together. If the production team keep going, they'll strike the right chord.

And yes, Jet Li is beginning to evolve as an actor, which I suspected after watching Lethal Weapon 4 again. He's the best thing in that movie.

However, this movie does require an appreciation for the medium and not just a need for escapism.

Found this movie very entertaining.

I was riveted to my seat and totally absorbed into the movie.

It really tore me up to see how badly he was treated by his captors and I was overjoyed each time he escaped. Also enjoyed seeing Morgan Freeman again. He's a classic. I hadn't seen the previews of this movie beforehand and thought it was "just another action film" ---- until I saw Morgan Freeman come on the scene.

The story line was unusual and the acting was great --- for an action film. Wish that more action films were directed at this level.

Jet Li is fabulous and he can act. I wish him a lifetime of successful films and hope to see them all.

This film, circulates around a purity, and a rage entwined around each other. It's beyond timeless, Jet Li is perfect and more. It portrays the sick people in this world, and what they do for the most pathetic tools everyone needs. It shows Love, and Death. And it shows Need for the Truth. Its far to obvious that anyone that opposes this is simply out of their own mind in egotistical attention. The question is, is this movie portraying the actual real world we live in, or is it not? This movie floods your mind and heart with power and love. It was perfectly articulate, and balanced between life and death. This movie was never over-advertised, showing that it was made for the intent of impressing, rather then selling, and getting money... Its perfect.

So in the last few years we have seen Jet Li in Romeo must die and Cradle to the grave, both modern and with Jet Li approaching the subject of acting, though hardly touching it. So far Jet Li has not acted he has merely been that kung fu guy, another Bruce Lee.

But here, we see him act, not for just five minutes when there is a break in the fighting, but for the entire film. At times there is over half an hour between any kind of fighting, and it is very much appreciated. We really see a different side of Jet Li, this is not 'you killed my master; I have come to avenge him'. But a new, modern martial arts film, where we have a plot we can believe in.

Bob Hoskins takes a nice dramatic turn here, 'that man sure can talk', as Danny's 'owner' and it's a gangster role that suits him well. His angry growl is both fearsome and less put on but unleashed.

But don't get me wrong here; this is still a martial arts film. You'll find yourself cringing and laughing from fright at the fight scenes. Jet Li is not a sleek, showy performer here, but real fighter, intense and scary in his brutality. But equally brutal is the realisation of human freedom and human nature, in some ways were all somebody's dog.

Danny the Dog is clearly Jet Li's best work, and hopefully marks a new direction for him, one I am very much looking forward to seeing.