Memorable, crazy movie

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Kiss of the Dragon (2001) is another Jet Li's finest action martial artist film! Kiss of the Dragon was Jet Li's third French movie he ever made that was not a Chinese film. The film was filmed in France and it is a French movie. The film was Directed by Chris Nahon, written and produced by French filmmaker Luc Besson. The film was made to satisfy Li's fans, who requested more realistic fight scenes. It is notable as most of the action sequences did not use CGI or wire work: only two scenes required CGI enhancement and only one scene involved wire work. This is my fourth favorite Jet Li's action martial arts film, his martial arts demonstration are excellent and the martial artist choreographer Emmanuel Lanzi was excellent in his demonstration. We also have Bridget Fonda in her role as a call girl Jessica and Tchéky Karyo as the bad guy from Bad Boys (1995). He always plays the villain in most of his movies and his new villain role was perfectly executed. "In a certain point. Very forbidden. It's called the Kiss of the Dragon." Plot: Martial artist master Jet Li explodes onto the screen as china's top secret agent, whose latest mission in Paris puts him face-to-face with government espionage at the highest level. falsely accused of murder, he must team up with a seductive call girl (Bridget Fonda) to save himself, her and her daughter.The basic plot is about Liu Jian (Jet Li) 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? The two Jet Li and Bridget Fonda has to help each other when their own common enemy framed Jian for murder and kidnapped Jessica's daughter. This film has a heart, Jet Li does everything at his best including not just clearing his name but he also try's to safe Jessica's daughter. When Richard and his men are using guns, Jian uses his martial arts skills to defeat them. The last fight between Jet and bunch of martial arts students in a Dojo fight scenes with stick fighting was Excellent! Jet Li's opponents uses two sticks as a weapon against him and Jet uses his martial arts to defeat them. I love this film to death I love it. I just want to say from 2001 till 2006 the movies were still good, today they aren't anymore! I have more respect towards Jet Li and I have noon respect towards Jackie Chan! Because the movies that Jackie Chan is filming today is really a disgrace to his fans, my Chinese favorite hero is Jet Li! The title "Kiss of the Dragon" is derived from one of the last scenes in the movie, in which Liu punctures Richard in the back of the neck with an acupuncture needle at a "very forbidden" point on the body. The puncture itself, called "kiss of the dragon", traps all the body's blood in the head and causes side effects of quadriplegia, bleeding from the head's orifices, and a painful death via a brain aneurysm.Director Chris Nahon filmed most of the action sequences without CGI or wire work: only two scenes required CGI enhancement and only one scene involved wire work. Wire work was added to one of the last fight sequences between Li and Cyril Raffaelli, in order to add clarity to Raffaelli's kicks, as he was moving too fast for the camera. Nahon had to slow down this fight scene, as both Li and Raffaelli were moving too quickly to be captured clearly at normal recording speed.The French version of the film is notably different from others; it contains a zoomed-out shot of Tcheky Karyo shooting one of his henchmen in the head, resulting in a fountain of blood erupting. This passage was cropped from most international versions of the movie.I think the fight scenes are very realistic and everyone from actors does an awesome excellent job! The Dojo stick fighting is my favorite scene and the fight between Jet Li and Cyril Raffaelli is my favorite realistic martial arts fight.Overall: Kiss of the Dragon is my fourth favorite Jet Li film that I love to death and I am owning it on Blu-ray disc. The rating this film gets 10/10.Kiss of the Dragon is a 2001 action film starring Jet Li, Tchéky Karyo and Bridget Fonda. There is relatively little wire work, unusual for a modern Kung Fu film, resulting in some great fight scenes, especially between Jet Li and Cyril Raffaelli, who plays a henchman. Despite Li's character being a good police officer and a surprisingly good portrayal of the Communist Chinese government, this film was still banned in the People's Republic of China, a fact that Li was not very happy about.10/10 Grade: Bad Ass Seal Of Approval Studio: 20th Century Fox Starring: Jet Li, Bridget Fonda, Tchéky Karyo, Ric Young, Burt Kwouk, Max Ryan, Kentaro, Cyril Raffaelli, Didier Azoulay Director: Chris Nahon Producers: Luc Besson, Jet Li, Steve Chasman, Happy Walters Screenplay: Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen Story by Jet Li Rated: R Running Time: 1 Hr. 38 Mins. Budget: $25,000,000 Box Office: $27,592,723

In the five years since Jean-Claude Van Damme kicked criminal backside in the streets of Paris in the intense MAXIMUM RISK, Western newcomer Jet Li (an established martial arts actor in China and beyond for the last twenty years, only now gaining western recognition) is back and doing much the same thing, although with even more style. Unlike Li's recent bomb THE ONE, KISS OF THE DRAGON is an action thriller par excellence, blessed with an extremely good pacing and level of suspense, some intriguing and surprisingly well-developed characters and a plot which mixes tense thriller antics with some very nice martial arts action. The film begins with a major set piece, as Li finds himself framed for a gruesome murder involving a Chinese drug lord and a drug-fuelled prostitute, and must battle a legion of corrupt policemen in the claustrophobic confines of an upper-crust hotel. The action is fast and furious, incorporating an excellent use of props with a steam iron, a laundry chute, and even a snooker ball coming into play during the stylish proceedings! From here on the film slows down a notch, taking care to develop the characters and especially Jet Li's cop. Li - in much the same way as an early-era Steven Seagal - exudes a brooding menace and level of bubbling violence even when he doesn't speak, and when he does get to act he does so with conviction, subtlety and skill. Li is superbly supported by Bridget Fonda, giving her finest performance to date as a tragic prostitute, hooked on heroin by the corrupt Inspector Richard, and forced to sell her body due to her daughter's incarceration by the evil mastermind.It's also good to see old-timer Burt Kwouk turning up in a non-comedic supporting role, even if all he does is spout a few words of wisdom. Also on hand is Tcheky Karyo, playing the most deranged cop since Gary Oldman in LEON (it comes as no surprise that Luc Besson also produced this movie), a criminal you love to hate who gets his just desserts come the finale, which involves the forbidden "Kiss of the Dragon". As a novel touch, the film sees Li carrying a bracelet full of needles, which he can place into people's necks in a second and paralyse them, or much worse as we eventually see during the climax.The film is well-shot throughout and makes great use of the Parisian locations, which are as always aesthetically pleasing despite focusing on the dark underbelly of the capital (this may be a reason that American thrillers set in Paris almost always turn out to be good) and the script is intelligent for a change and has realistic dialogue. First-time director Chris Nahon proves to be surprisingly adept at his job and the level of excitement in the film never lets up, even during some lengthy dialogue scenes between Li and Fonda, as they are handled poignantly and with finesse, thus developing a level of chemistry between the stars which is rarely seen in this genre - and thankfully they don't ruin things by having the two leads jumping into the sack at the first available opportunity.The action sequences are inserted well into the flow of the plot and the only flaw is the editing, which is sometimes so quick that you can't clearly see what's going on (then again, if a multi-million pound blockbuster like THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING can make the same mistake, I can forgive this film too). A steady amount of firepower is used in the movie, with huge machine-guns and grenade-launchers ripping up the scenery and shredding extras; it may not always be realistic for this to happen, but it makes for great spectacle. The film doesn't skimp on the violence either, with the fights being invariably bloody and gruesome, including a sick but funny gag involving a pair of legs, neck-breakings and more. Don't even get me started on the hilariously disgusting climax, either, in which Karyo's character undergoes one of the most painful deaths imaginable.As for the martial arts, they are superb and rightly so, considering Li's ability. My favourite is probably the moment when he takes on a class of black-belts which offers impossibly fast stick fighting and tons of excitement. Other highlights include the amusing one-on-one with the muscular black guy (who just happens by to show up and fight Li) and the excellent two-on-one at the end in which Li fights a pair of huge blond twins in an office and teaches them both a nasty lesson. KISS OF THE DRAGON is not just a good film; it's a great one, and one which reaffirms my faith in film getting things right occasionally. Highly recommended.

If you're looking for plot, catch a Jane Austin flick. If you're looking for pure escapism and incredible action, then Kiss of the Dragon is right up your alley, big time. This is the first Jet Li movie I've seen, and I was not disappointed. I think it's the only second Bridget Fonda movie I've seen (the first was Single White Female), and she and Jet make a great and formidable team. The action scenes are absolutely incredible and for the most part, done without wires. The laundry chute scene was awesome and gruesome, but hey, that's to be expected when you cross swords with Jet Li. The blood-soaked half-torso capped off the scene quite nicely. Seeing Jet swinging the French flag at the end was amazing.One funny comment from the French bad buy when he referred to a "kimono and wig" to find Jet. Jet's Chinese but I guess the French have difficult distinguishing the Chinese from the Japanese, just as some Chinese would have difficulty telling the difference between Germans and French if you know what I mean.

The picture is full of tumultuous sequences with frenetic action , surprises , fierce combats and groundbreaking struggles . Classic as well as impressive Chop-Socky in which wild fighting scenes provide an overwhelming view of Jet Li skills . It has lots of fights , as well staged as Jet Li's Hong Kong films . It is set in Paris where a betrayed intelligence officer (Jet Li) enlists the aid of a prostitute (Bridget Fonda) to prove his innocence from a deadly conspiracy while returning a favor to her . Li against time to clear his name and rescue a junkie whore and her daughter . When the secret mission goes wrong he is framed for murder by a nasty as well and amusing villain officer , Insp. Richard (Tchéky Karyo) ; as the Chinese agent will face off a bunch of heinous henchmen across threatening streets of Paris . Then Li has to go on the run pursued by corrupt cops , being his only ally the mistreated call-girl and an old Chinese shopkeeper (Bur Kwouk) .This moving Chop-Socky displays drama , action-packed , thrills , and wild fighting images . It is an action-filled and violent film , being utterly filmed in Paris . Li shows awesome skills , as he hits , punches and kicks most of Paris hoodlums into tiny pieces . The battle scenes are sliced up by means of flashy quick cuts that sometimes reduce Jet Li's extraordinary athleticism to a little more than the backdrop to a video clip . An exciting art martial movie in which , once again , an oriental Chinesse super cop is sent loan to tackle crime in the West . The style of action in this movie was heavily influenced by comments made during series of messages posted by fans on the Jet Li website forum , immediately after the release of Romeo must die (2000) in the United States , the fans wanted more realistic fighting as in Jet Li's movie Jet Li's Fist of Legend (1994) . The rousing fights include deadly use of fists , feet and palms ; being perfectly staged by expert Corey Yeun . Fights , attacks and exciting combats very well staged by great fighters , in fact , here are only seven wires used in the entire movie, the only scenes involving wire work were when Jet Li had to jump up to kick the pool ball and when Cyril Raffaelli performs his one-and-a-quarter backwards somersault-kick ; the result is a strong entry for art martial buffs . Actors made their owns stunts ; some of the players got injured and to had to be hospitalized during the shooting , some of them suffered mild concussions during filming, after being struck several times during fighting scenes . The only scenes that used CGI are when Jet Li falls down the laundry drop with CG flames surrounding him and in the hotel scene when Jet Li kicks the ball from the pool table . Amid the glamour and grandeur of the scenarios , including luxury hotel , is developed an intrigue about women exploitation and dealing with a Chinese agent who attempts to restore his name . Colorful and luxurious cinematography by Thierry Arbogast . Adequate musical score fitting to action by Craig Armstrong . This moving film was lavishly co-produced and written by the great producer/director Luc Besson and well realized by Chris Nahon . Director Chris Nahon had to slow down the fight scene between Jet Li and Cyril Raffaelli because they were moving too fast for the camera. Filmmaker Nahon establishes his signature style of kinetically-paced story-telling through sumptuous imagery , leading to international critical acclaim . Chris Nahon was born in France , he is a good director and writer, known for Empire of the wolves (2005) , Blood: the last vampire (2009) and Kiss of the dragon (2001) . Rating : Better than average art martial movie . Worthwhile watching .