DVD Movie Rating for: Kiss of the Dragon

Rating

Movie Plot of: Kiss of the Dragon

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?

DVD Production Details of: Kiss of the Dragon

Starring: Jet Li, Bridget Fonda

Director: Chris Nahon

Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Home Video

DVD Release Date: August 27, 2002
DVD Features:
Commentary by Chris Nahon, Jet Li and Bridget Fonda

Theatrical trailer(s)

4 Featurettes

2 Storyboards Analysis

Still Galleries

Widescreen anamorphic format

DVD Easter Eggs

Easter Egg: Hidden Trailer Go to the Special Features menu then go into "Police Gymnasium Fight: The Martial Arts Demo." Highlight "Demo Two" and arrow right. The dragon symbol will be releaved - press enter to watch a trailer.

Cast of the movie: Kiss of the Dragon

• Jet Li .... Liu Jian
• Bridget Fonda .... Jessica
• Tchéky Karyo .... 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
• Colin Prince .... Lupo's Assistant
• Vincent Glo .... Pluto
• Vincent Wong .... Minister Tang
• Kentaro .... Chen

Photo Gallery of the movie: Kiss of the Dragon

Click on one of the thumbnails to see the full size, high resolution photographs

Reviews of the movie: Kiss of the Dragon

Let's face it: No one is usually checking a Jet Li movie for the verbal sparring. In Kiss of the Dragon, Chinese undercover agent Li chops his way through Paris after he's framed in some sketchily defined drug sting operation. The fight sequences are tough and quite brutal, and the over-the-top finale is arguably worth the price of admission, wherein an implacable Li takes on the entire Paris Police Bureau, working his way up toward police chief Tchéky Karyo's office through cops, a pair of peroxide-blond twin henchmen, and a whole class of kung fu cadets. Co-screenwriter Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita) should know by now what makes for a nifty genre piece, but the woeful dialogue is a shame, and there aren't nearly enough action sequences to get your blood boiling. Poor Bridget Fonda gives it the old school try in a thankless role as an ex-junkie prostitute from the Midwest whose young daughter is being held captive by duplicitous police chief/drug lord/pimp Karyo (who fairly inhales the scenery). Director Chris Nolan might have pushed further the strangers-in-a-strange-land camaraderie between Li and Fonda, but the script still would've sunk him.

After the disappointing Romeo Must Die it's great to see Jet Li back in ass-kicking form in Kiss of the Dragon, a movie that features a story that doesn't always make a whole lot of sense but features martial arts fights that rank among Li's best. The movie improves considerably on the mistakes made in Romeo and is a thrill ride that moves at a consistently good pace.

Li plays a Chinese intelligence officer on a mission in Paris. He's been assigned to work with a French officer named Richard (Tcheky Karyo), who's obviously corrupt and also calls Li by John since he can't pronounce his real name. Anyway, their assignment involves busting a drug kingpin, but everything goes horribly wrong when the crime lord is killed and Richard pins the fault on John. Thus, John goes on the run in a city he's unfamiliar with; he has almost no allies and is being chased after by the police and Richard's countless cronies.

He meets a prostitute named Jessica (Bridget Fonda) inside a restaurant, and a mutual friendship begins to develop between them. It's also by chance he discovers that she was a witness to the kingpin's murder and can clear his name. But she's reluctant to help him because Richard has her daughter, which is the only reason she continues this demeaning job in the first place. As Richard and his men begin to pin them down, John prepares to fight back with all his skills and strengths and retrieve Jessica's daughter safely.

From the get-go, there's a fault in the story. There's simply no good explanation given as to why Richard actually had the kingpin killed in the first place. My own assumption would be that they were working together and this led to the possibility of his corruption being revealed. That's as good as any guess, I suppose. Luc Besson's script isn't particularly distinguished, but hey, at least it's more comprehensible than the Romeo Must Die's plot, a move which I will probably refer to many times in this review.

Not only is that element improved upon from that film, but Li is actually given a hell of a lot more screen time and the fact that everybody seems to be after him gives the movie a more frenetic pace. That's not to say that Kiss of the Dragon is a lightning-paced film. After an exhilarating opening fight sequence inside a hotel that features Li using props a la Jackie Chan style, the movie does slow down considerably.

But to compensate for this pace is an interesting relationship that forms when Bridget Fonda enters the picture. True, this isn't the most well-written role the actress has had (well, then again, she's not really give many well-written roles in the first place, is she?) but her performance is good, and the chemistry that clicks between her and Li is strong, and even sometimes sweet and touching. Some see the lack of an actual romance blossoming between them as another sign that Hollywood isn't much for interracial couples (much like in Romeo Must Die) but I think it's better this way. Plus, I'm getting tired of seeing the hero bed the heroine in an impulsive moment of passion. Fonda and Li's quiet communication and toned-down feelings are more effective than a kiss or love scene would be. Of course, there are the obligatory moments of cheesy dialogue when she says to him that all he cares about is himself, but the fight scenes kick in before any of this can significantly hinder the film.

Speaking of the action scenes, they are supremely exciting. I'm not sure if director Chris Nahon was in charge of the choregraphy, but if he was, this is very impressive. First of all, there's no wirework, or at least none that I noticed, so there's a feeling of authenticity in all the fight scenes. The film's best action sequence is Li's two-on-one fight with the "blonde brothers" in the finale who, I must say, also display some very impressive martial arts moves (Can Li even do flips like that one blonde guy does?). I've seen several of Li's other films and these fights on par with his Hong Kong work, if not better than some. The only real complaint I have with the fight scenes is that some of the camera movements are too quick, making it sometimes a little difficult to make out a couple of Li's impressive moves. But it's a problem that thankfully doesn't permeate the film.

The action is also very bloody and graphically violent. An early scene with a man being literally blown in half by a grenade let's us know that isn't a family-friendly Jackie Chan film. When someone gets hit, they bleed and they bleed a lot. (Minor Spoiler here) Tcheky Karyo's death scene is perhaps the film's bloody highlight; he bleeds from every orifice on his face until he dies in a frenzy of spasmatic twitching.

What can be seen as a flaw in the film is in some of its settings. Those who think present-day Paris is nothing but a beautiful city will be unpleasantly surprised by Kiss of the Dragon, which almost exclusively focuses on the grungy and seedy side of society in the city. Seeing Fonda in a mess of sweat and dirt in a filthy allieway isn't a fun sight.

As I said before, Fonda is good, and so is Li, who can actually act, unlike so many big-time action stars around. The quiet intensity he displays says more than any dialogue that spews out from Steven Seagal or Jean-Claude Van Damme. Tcheky Karyo is so snaky and disgustingly vile in his role, everybody will cheer for his death (well, that and the fact that some people in the audience couldn't stop proclaiming how gross his death was).

The actual Kiss of the Dragon the movie's title refers to is a form of Chinese acupuncture, a method that Li uses in the film can put people to sleep or give a very bloody death. It's not mentioned as often in the film as I thought it would and neither is it extremely significant to the plot, but who cares? This film's all about the action and I'm certainly not complaining when it comes to that. It's funny to see that from the so many lackluster blockbuster films of the past summer two of the best have its roots in Hong-Kong filmmaking (the other such film is Tsui Hark's Time and Tide).