Kiss of The Dragon

Kiss of the Dragon is a movie with the barest semblance of a plot, but it is highly energetic and entertaining. Overall Rating:

Kiss of The Dragon Directed by Chris Nahon Screenplay by Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen Cast: Jet Li, Bridget Fonda, Tchéky Karyo, Burt Kwouk After his limited debut as the villain in 'Lethal Weapon 4' and his disappointing follow-up in 'Romeo Must Die', 'Kiss of the Dragon' is the next vehicle for Jet Li, a veteran martial arts master. Kiss of the Dragon probably ranks among the better films of Li's twenty-two year international acting career, as this film plays to his strengths (Kung Fu action) while keeping his liabilities (acting!) largely under wraps. The plot is hardly new and revolves around a secret Chinese operative/cop, Lui Jian, who touches down in Paris. He meets up with a French cop (Tchéky Karyo) and from one look at his goatee and we’re onto the fact he’s a real bad-egg. They’re there to watch over the arrival of a Chinese diplomat and within hours Lui is framed for murder, with only a chatty hooker (Bridget Fonda) and a vital videotape to save him. After that the script refuses to explain itself. What is the French Cop's connection with the Chinese? Why has he bothered abducting the child of immigrant hooker Jessica (Bridget Fonda) as collateral, when he kills everyone else? And why doesn’t anyone bother to just dispose of incriminating evidence instead of locking it in a drawer? And what on earth is up with the goatee? Suffice to say this film is not going to win an Oscar for its script. It's there for one reason and one reason only - to show off Jet Li's King Fu skills, second to this is any entertainment we get. Essentially one big long chase from start to finish with a few quiet moments stuck in between. There are car chases, foot chases, hunting chases, and just about any other chase you could want. And of course there are the mental battle between the Hero and the Villan. The Villan is of the same mold - wants to help self, cynical, power hungry, domineering, violent, dry wit, cruel, demanding, quick to anger, money hungry, unapologetic, annoyed, unemotional, greedy, determined, secretive, unforgiving, likes to hurt people, crude, sophisticated malevolence and so on. The screenplay for this film is done by Luc Besson ("The Fifth Element"), the John Woo of French action cinema, if there is such a thing, and god forbid there should be. But he does a good job given what he had to work with. All in all, not terribly exciting stuff, hardly worth going out for, unless of course you have to review it, which I did.