Kiss of the Dragon (2001)

Kiss of the Dragon: Directed by Chris Nahon. With Jet Li, Bridget Fonda, Tchéky Karyo, Ric Young. A betrayed intelligence officer enlists the aid of a prostitute to prove his innocence from a deadly conspiracy while returning a favor to her.

“Liu Jian (aka u0026quot;Johnnyu0026quot;) 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 wonu0026#39;t be taken without a fight… a really good fight… and a few more after that. Luc Bessonu0026#39;s screenplay isnu0026#39;t exactly creative, but given the genre, itu0026#39;s pretty darn good. I know I sure sighed with relief that Liu Jian (played with subtle excellence by Jet Li) wasnu0026#39;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).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe story isnu0026#39;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: u0026quot;Bring him to me alive; Iu0026#39;ll deal with him myselfu0026quot; (or something to that affect). But somehow, it doesnu0026#39;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 Fondau0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat 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. Itu0026#39;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.”