This is as good as a violent action movie can get. I am not a fan of martial art movies, and would probably have avoided it, if it was not produced by Luc Besson (director of the original 'Nikita' and of the '5th Element') and acted among other by the excellent Bridget Fonda and Tcheky Karyo. I was not disappointed by their acting, by the way, and even the martial arts star was not bad at all. The story of the Chinese cop framed by his French counterparts in a murder and drugs intrigue has not too much logic, but what logic can you expect from such a movie - when a full hotel and a tourist boat are destroyed in matter of minutes, and dozens of bodies head gladly to the Garden of Eden for the 'pleasure' of the viewer. Pleasure it is indeed if you can put common sense aside, watch and enjoy the choreography of the fights, the various and creative ways people seem to die, and the well filmed Paris landscape, now theater for the real life (should I say real death?) Far Eastern martial arts wars. Interestingly enough, the French play the role of the bad guys in the movie, while the Chinese are the good ones - this must be some kind of concession to penetrate the big Far East market. The film gets 7/10 on my scale, the best I can grade this type of cinematographic entertainment.
Review of Kiss of the Dragon
