Kiss of the Dragon

[Dan Druff]

Enjoyable martial arts action movie with Jet Li, Bridget Fonda and the excellent Ric Young as 'Mister Big'.
Set in Paris which is a nice change. Some excellent stunts, fight co-ordination etc. handled well on his debut by Chris Nahon.
Not really my scene, though I've seen a few HK Legends movies at this stage and own the odd Bruce Lee DVD, though the screening was FREE. Watch Li dodge machine gun bullets, kill with chopsticks, beat the crap out of huge muscular blokes with a single punch and paralyse people with.. pins. Very far fetched, very enjoyable, worth a look. 7/10.

[rst]

Average
Nothing Original
No stand-out action scenes.
No big fight scene that stands out
Thumbs down
5/10

Bridget Fonda, need not have have had a role, underused imho

[Morpheus2000]

Originally posted by rst
Average
Nothing Original
No stand-out action scenes.
No big fight scene that stands out
Thumbs down
5/10

Bridget Fonda, need not have have had a role, underused imho

I can understand what you mean, but I enjoyed it. It's quite violent and it's a while since I heard bone crunching in a film.

It's certainly a lot better than Romeo Must Die, fight scenes are more realistic in Kiss of the Dragon and story is a big improvement. It's like a James Bond film set in France, I can't remember a film which last had the Eiffel Tower (Moulin Rouge doesn't count as it wasn't real).

Fights are not up to the same standard as Fist of Legend, I'd probably be biased and give it 8 / 10.

[tpr007]

I think numerous people went in expecting Fist of Legend, given that Jet compared it himself.

FoL it ain't - More like "My father is a hero" and in my opinion equally good (although different)

His movies can improve, as will the fights. This is a good stepping stone. I for one, would like to see him work with Yuen Woo-ping in a US flick, and hopefully he will have heard the criticisms about the editing and camera close-ups during fights. This should mean great improvements in the future.

Right now though - i like it a lot : 7/8 out of 10

[wide_inside]

Jonathon Ross Loves it. He's doing a bit on it tonight on film 2001. Does a little kung fu feature aswell, on Tarantinos new effort. and a Michel Yeoh (sp) bit too.

It starts at 2347


(actually it's quite a big Martial arts bit, game of death, Jackie, and Sammo featured)


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[john316]

But no Donnie Yen???

[tpr007]

Originally posted by john316
But no Donnie Yen???

Shamefully not!

It was a good, short piece, but considering their use of HKL clips - they failed to Show Iron Monkey or Donnie Yen.

Oh Well - It is the BBC :mad:

[mr_woo]

watched the flick this afternoon and i'd have to say that i absolutely loved it!!

I think the main problem is that too many people expected it to be the next Fist Of Legend which is, admittedly, far better. Also the editing was a bit too choppy and what the hell were they using rap music for ?

But as far as hollywood films go i thought it was great, loved the brutal fights (much better than using wires) and i liked the fact that Jet Li spent most of the time looking seriously ****** off :)

Definitely going to get the region 1 dvd in January.

[Disappearer]

Gets two thumbs down from me. Absolutely no grace or fluidity in the action scenes, and it often feels like a third-rate Leon rip-off. Jet Li is great, but this flick doesn't do him justice. Hopefully The One will be an improvement.

[Morpheus2000]

Originally posted by Disappearer
Gets two thumbs down from me. Absolutely no grace or fluidity in the action scenes, and it often feels like a third-rate Leon rip-off. Jet Li is great, but this flick doesn't do him justice. Hopefully The One will be an improvement.

I believe The One is getting slated by the critics and it's only 85 Minutes. The trailer looks excellent for it though!

BTW: It'll probably be along time before any Martial Arts from the States comes close to Fist of Fury or Fist of Legend.

[Morton]

Originally posted by Morpheus2000


I believe The One is getting slated by the critics and it's only 85 Minutes. The trailer looks excellent for it though!



..and so did the Trailer for K.O.D!! Better trailer than film IMO.

While we did like the film we couldn't help feeling a little bit let down.

The trailer hinted at a great fight with the huge, coloured, guy in the shop but it was so badly put together you couldn't get any real sense of what was happening. In the end, the scene felt too rushed - it was over in seconds and intermingled with too many shots of the other bad guy arriving in his car.

So, pretty good but when you put it against a HK flick it comes up short.

Best line of the film.

"We call this the Kiss Of the Dragon!"

Yeah!? Well you can kiss my ass!!!


Oh, and Jet Li maybe able to kick ten bells out of me but he'd have to catch me first! After seeing him run, for the first time in a full shot, that's very unlikely!! :D

[camino_real]

I'm fairly new to this HK lark so thought I'd go and see this flick. It was OK, nothing special. The fight scenes were average but rather brutal. There was no plot to speak of and most of the acting was dire. The script was awful and what Bridget Fonda was doing in this is beyond me (probably paying the rent). I found Jet Li to be good though. He has a certain presence and I can't fault his fighting abilities. All in all a mindless action film, good if you like that sort of thing. 6/10.

[ethanfox]

Liked it, nice to see an unpretentious action film, I mean, that's what you go for, you want gripping stories, go see a drama, you want pointless fisticuffs, go see this.

Great score as well, Craig Armstrong does good, nice to see an action film without cheeseeeee synth drums.

[Mr M0by]

Poor Bridget, she really can pick some turkeys....

[Morpheus2000]

Originally posted by MR M0BY
Poor Bridget, she really can pick some turkeys....

Two of the worst films ever, what about poor Uma Thurman?

[Peter UK]

Well I really enjoyed this - nice to see Jet Li without a shaved head in a modern day situation. The fights were okay although they could have been better if the quick editing didn't get in the way. One standout scene was in the dojo and Jet had to fend off three guys all gunning for him with batons :eek: It was also very funny in places - so I'm definately going to pick up the R1 release.

Pete

[Rohail]

When does this get released on R1?

[richy77]

Saw KOTD lasts week and thought it was good. Not sure if I prefer it to Romeo Must Die.

[Cap'n Al]

The mix of Luc Besson-style cool and Jet Li-style fighting is a very odd one, but it works surprisingly nicely, partly because Chris (coughBessonpseudonymcough) Nahon can direct action well, and partly because of the wonderfully OTT performance from Tcheky Karyo, which makes his appearance in Dobermann look like the model of taste and restraint.

It's not at all perfect; the plot's virtually incomprehensible, there are far too many moments of unintentional hilarity (witness Burt Kwouk muttering about his nine and a half grandchildren, and try not to think about The Pink Panther), and Jet Li is somewhat lacking in acting ability. However, it's still a pretty good attempt at making an action film that's a bit different to the norm, and the Paris settings look glorious.

[wide_inside]

And it's nice to see him without any wirework for once. I thought it was was it was. An action film. Not an exceptional one, but it certainly did the job. The fights were well done, espescially the one in the Dojo.
and the bit with the guy getting blown in half, and his lower body sliding down the wall is just wicked

Overall, I'll give it a C. Quite impressive, but could try harder.

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[Cirrus888]

Saw this tonight ... not a complete turkey but it is mindless action and its better than romeo must die.

[tpr007]

Watched "The One" last night, and was entertained - but for those who go to see it - It is not a Martial arts film, more like Demolition Man (ie. a couple of fights)

The finale was good, and many people will say it ripped off the Matrix, but the matrix doesn't own SFX, so it was ok with me!

I like Kiss of the Dragon a lot, and this was equally as enjoyable, if very different.