Kiss of the Dragon (2001)

the audience applauded

Excellent but underrated film

best movie i've ever seen.

Absolutely brilliant

Liu Jian (Jet Li) travels to Paris from his native China to stop a drug kingpin and get to the bottom of his illegal doings in France. A top cop in his home country, Liu utilizes his amazing Martial Arts abilities to bring the baddies to justice. But he meets his match in the super-evil Richard (Karyo), who commands an army of goons, who in turn keep a stable of his prostitutes - all the while leading a double life as the head of the Vice Squad in Paris. As Liu tries to keep his bearings while in this foreign land, fighting Richard's goons at every turn, he reluctantly teams up with one of his prostitutes, Jessica (Fonda) in the search for answers. It seems Richard is keeping Jessica's daughter locked in an orphanage as leverage so she won't spill the beans on his many, many illegal activities. His criminal empire seemed impenetrable...but he never had to contend with Liu Jian! Will justice be served, and will Jessica get her daughter back? Find out today...Kiss of the Dragon is fast-paced fun, with a lot of the typically-excellent Martial Arts Jet Li is known for. It has a lot of lively, quick fights and is loaded with very impressive stunts. It's all very cool and slick. It has a nice, professional look and has tons of action - as well as a likable hero and a very evil baddie. Just those things alone put it head and shoulders above a lot of other movies of this kind. There is minimal CGI and wirework - it's mostly all-real fights (with a couple of exceptions, of course). We appreciated the idea of Liu's "acupuncture bracelet", and the fact that he has some knock-down, drag-out fights with guys that resemble Street Fighter characters Guile and Balrog. The Guile guy is even seen reading a "Where's Waldo?" book at one point. We know this came out in 2001, but if that's not 90's, we don't know what is. Of course, all of this is highly reminiscent of The Replacement Killers (1998) of a few years previously. While that was a Hollywood vehicle for Chow Yun-Fat, this is for Jet Li. Instead of teaming up with Mira Sorvino, here it's Bridget Fonda, and instead of Jurgen Prochnow as the baddie, here it's Karyo. Needless to say, if you liked one, you will like the other. We also welcomed the fact that it was really Paris we were seeing, not Bulgaria masquerading as Paris, or some green-screen fakery. Nowhere was this more evident than on the boat fight scene, which is clearly on the Seine, and you cannot fake what they did. Maybe we've watched too many Seagal movies, but we loved the change of scenery. As with Contract Killer (1998), Cradle 2 the Grave (2003), and Romeo Must Die (2000), the filmmakers have decided to pair Jet Li with rap beats. In this case we have not one, but TWO songs by Mystikal. While it certainly places the movie in a particular time period, we kind of wish it wasn't Mystikal. What, were Jadakiss and Silkk tha Shocker songs unavailable? Also, it should be noted that Richard, the bad guy, is so evil, he keeps a turtle in his desk drawer. Another thing we noticed was that in the scene where Liu and Jessica go to the orphanage, the floor and room number where the daughter can be found is "B13". District B13 (2004) is also a France-set Martial Arts extravaganza, and a Luc Besson production. This must have some significance to him. It was just a little thing we noticed. Kiss of the Dragon is an entertaining ride that is well worth watching. The great Jet Li is in top form and a pleasant time will be had by all who view it.

Liu Jian (Jet Li) is a Chinese secret agent arriving in Paris to take down a Chinese drug lord. His French contact is vice squad leader Inspector Richard (Tchéky Karyo). Only Richard is dirty and tries to frame him for the drug lord's killing. Jessica Kamen (Bridget Fonda) is an American farm girl forced into prostitution by Richard. He's holding her daughter in an orphanage. Liu Jian managed to grab the video tape showing Richard shooting the drug lord with his confiscated gun. Then by chance, he runs into Jessica again.This is a Luc Besson production and it has a lot of his touches. Bridget Fonda is back and they even use the laundry chute. It's got some fun Besson-like action. It helps a lot to have Jet Li fighting. The acupuncture needles are a little bit much. The fight in the office with the Twins is amazing. Tchéky Karyo is great at being the villain. The biggest problem I have is the big coincidence. It's beyond ridiculous and rings such a false note. With such a big city, she's hooking right in front of the store.

Kiss of the Dragon is an action vehicle for Jet Li, a Chinese intelligence agent sent to Paris to help apprehend Chinese mob boss, Mr Big. He meets Inspector Jean-Pierre Richard (Tchéky Karyo), a corrupt French police detective and tricks Liu into believing he is simply providing reconnaissance of a meet involving Mr Big when he is planning to use two prostitutes as a rouse to kill Mr Big and frame Li for it. Li realises he has been set up escapes from the hotel with a surveillance tape showing Richard shooting Mr Big and tries to clear his name. Along the way he encounters an American prostitute little knowing that their paths have crossed before.The story for this film was from Jet Li and it was produced by Luc Besson. It is primarily a martial arts action fight film for Li without much CGI or wire work and Li really delivers. From Besson you get that what is now a trademark Besson style of an outsider entering France and getting involved in a mystery and action where bad guys need to be dispatched with assistance from usually a female. It is almost a prototype Taken film.The best fight sequence is in the police training room when Li is taken aback to discover they are doing karate training.However the film has too many lapses of logic. Karyo is a great bad guy but we see him shoot civilians out in the open, surely someone would twig he is corrupt. We also have scenes of someone shooting at Li from a hotel lobby with two machine guns and again no one at the French Police raises questions. Bridget Fonda looks miscast as the prostitute and it would had been better if her character was French.

With writing credits such as Taken, The Fifth Element and Leon under his belt, you can be pretty sure that with Luc Besson's name attached to it; you're in pretty safe hands.Critics have been rather harsh on Director Chris Nahon's feature debut, but this really is worth a watch or seven.Let's start with the basic plot (however far fetched it may be):We're set in Paris with our Hero Liu Jian (who cares what his name is, we all know we'll refer to him by nothing other than Jet Li) who's come all the way from Beijing to help apprehend a notorious drug lord and his French asset. We learn quickly that the asset is the French Inspector that Jet Li is supposed to be there to help, and Jet is subsequently betrayed and marked for death. From here on we get what we came for: First-rate martial arts kick-assness!!The action is what really makes this film worth watching. In most cases that would be a bad thing, making it an empty and pointless flick, with the action over the top and often boring. Here however, the action and violence (in abundance) is tastefully and creatively executed, whist being supported by a rather dark and character-driven story. As well as a fine performance from Bridget Fonda who does well with what little she's given in the way of a character. The villains are very cartoony, but this only adds to the fun of this movieIt has it's problems, but there's enough here to distract you and leave you thoroughly entertained. What more do you need in such a film? - Vinnie