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Title: Kiss of the Dragon (2001)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Jet Li | ... | Liu Jian | |
| Bridget Fonda | ... | Jessica Kamen | |
| Tchéky Karyo | ... | Insp. Richard | |
| Ric Young | ... | Mister Big | |
| Burt Kwouk | ... | Uncle Tai | |
| Laurence Ashley | ... | Aja | |
| Cyril Raffaelli | ... | Twin | |
 |
Didier Azoulay | ... | Twin |
| John Forgeham | ... | Max | |
| Paul Barrett | ... | Pilot | |
| Max Ryan | ... | Lupo | |
|
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Colin Prince | ... | Lupo's Assistant |
|
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Vincent Glo | ... | Pluto |
|
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Vincent Wong | ... | Minister Tang |
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Kentaro | ... | Chen |
Liu Jian, a police officer from China, comes to Paris to help the vice squad apprehend a Chinese drug lord and his unknown French connection. The French connection is Richard, the head of the vice squad, who intends to kill the drug lord then frame Jian. Jian ducks a bullet and escapes with a tape of what really happened. By chance, Jian turns to Jessica - a US farm girl who is one of Richard's hookers - for help. She has her own problems, including the fact that Richard has her daughter locked in an orphanage to keep Jessica on the streets and silent about his activities. Can Jian protect Jessica, rescue her daughter, and give Richard the kiss of the dragon? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
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.