- published: 16 Apr 2014
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Unleashed (also known as Danny the Dog), is a 2005 American-British-French martial arts action thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier and written by Luc Besson. The film stars Jet Li, Bob Hoskins, Morgan Freeman and Kerry Condon. It is set and filmed onsite in Glasgow.
Bart (Bob Hoskins) is a vicious loan shark whose method of persuading men to pay him back involves Danny (Jet Li), a man with the mentality of a child; only if a metal collar around his neck is removed by Bart will he become a violently skilled fighter who stops at nothing to take down his targets. But once the collar is on, Danny is a harmless, withdrawn person, with very little knowledge of how to live as a socialized person, and he is constantly bullied by his master Bart.
One day, Bart realizes he can end his loan shark career by regularly attending an underground fighting tournament and registering Danny to fight; in exchange, if Danny can win and survive the fights, Bart receives good money. After the first fight, however, Bart gets into a mishap with another criminal and is left for dead after a violent shooting. A critically injured Danny runs off to an antique warehouse for shelter, where he meets a kindly piano tuner, Sam (Morgan Freeman). Danny soon finds himself with Sam and his step-daughter Victoria (Kerry Condon) in their apartment, and he starts a new life with the benevolent family; curiously he is drawn closer to music while spending time with Victoria. He also develops curiosity about who his mother was when he learns what a family is.