The reason why I like this movie is because of the martial arts by Jet Li. The situation and story is fairly basic and Bridget Fonda does nothing other than provide something pretty to look at, but I like the final battle scene and I also like the bad guy so it's a very watchable movie.

The basis of the story is that a Chinese agent Liu Jian, played by Jet Li (Hero), is framed for several murders by a dirty French cop Richard, played by Tcheky Karyo (A Very Long Engagement) while in Paris investigating drug smuggling to China. Jian's only hope for exoneration is getting an American prostitute Jessica, played by Bridgett Fonda (Jackie Brown,) who was an unwilling participant in Richard's plan to the Chinese embassy so Jian's government can take the evidence to the French.

The martial arts is what really makes the movie enjoyable, that and Karyo doing such a good job of being a hateful a**hole. I know what you are asking, how is Jet Li's martial art different then Jackie Chan's? Well I am glad you asked, both are great to watch on screen but Chan has humor in almost everything he does and Li is all business. The final scene in which Jet Li walks in to the French police department and starts kicking ass is one of the manliest scenes I can think of, just the ultimate in kicking ass and taking names.

Karyo was fun as the bad guy. To me it was the genius of the direction, by Chris Nahon (Empire de Loupes) in that at no time does he hide the fact that he is the bad guy. From the opening sequence, you know that Liu is going to meet the bad guy, it doesn't matter that he is a cop, priest, president, or cheerleader, he is the bad guy so you don't have to waste time looking for hidden character flaws. As I said Karyo does a good job, he seems like he almost enjoys the role of being the bad guy.

I have two problems with the movie which cause it not to get my best rating. The first reason is that I don't care how big or important of a cop he is, he wouldn't be able to shoot everybody he comes in contact with. His crew blow holes in everything. I don't even know if the Germans did that much damage during World War II as the police did to their on city in this movie. The second problem is that the main character is Chinese, who is in a French city, surrounded by French people, except for one American (Fonda) and every one is speaking English. That is just annoying. I can buy that the Chinese and the French have to speak to each other in English, being a international language, but why don't the French speak to each other in French, or Chinese speak to each other in Chinese? It just bugged me.

Finally I will sum up by saying that if you like your martial arts to be a bit more serious, or you need a break from the great goofiness that is Jackie Chan, then this is your movie. It does have a slapstick actor in the movie even though he is in a non comedic role. Burt Kwouk who played opposite Peter Sellers in all of the Pink Panther movies as Cato has a small part in this movie and it was nice to see him in a life post Pink Panther. Like I said watch it is fun and has a great final scene.

Brian - the Naked Gun