Kiss of the Dragon
Kiss of the Dragon is a 2001 martial arts action film directed by Chris Nahon starring Jet Li.
Liu Jian (Li), a Chinese intelligence officer, comes to Paris to help the vice squad apprehend Chinese drug lord Mr. Big and his unknown French connection. He joins forces with French police official Jean-Pierre Richard (Tchéky Karyo) in order to do it. Alas, it turns out that Richard is Big's connection, and that Richard is planning to murder Big. When Jian discovers, tries and fails to stop this, Richard frames him for the murder. Jian is able to escape with a tape that proves his innocence, but he loses it soon after. Just when it seems he has nowhere to turn, he meets Jessica, a Hooker with a Heart of Gold whom Richard has forced into prostitution and heroin-addiction, and who was present at the site of Big's murder and thus can prove Jian's innocence. Alas, Richard also has Jessica's daughter under his thumb in an orphanage, and she refuses to help until Jian gets her. Jian sets off to do it, evading Richard's mooks and seeking to slay him at the same time.
Li made the film as a result of fans requesting more realistic fight scenes following Romeo Must Die. Consequently, only two scenes required CGI enhancement and only one scene involved wire work. Critics considered it lukewarm (51% on Rotten Tomatoes), and it was a moderate box office success.
- Badass: Liu Jian. He is the kind of guy who can clear out a whole room of black belts and make it look easy.
- Bad Boss: Inspector Richard. No need to make a long list what he's done, so here's a short version: Other than being the head of local Interpol branch, and running a prostitution ring, he makes sure to keep them addicted and keeps the daughter of one in an orphanage to prevent her from leaving. He gets his own people killed to protect himself. And those he doesn't kill, he blackmails, and he sets up murders.
- Bring It: Played with, when a fight scene grinds to a halt as both fighters realise they're better off where they are. The result could be subtitled "Bring it!" "No, you bring it!" "No, you!"
- Clear My Name
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Right there in the name...
- Dirty Cop
- Gay Paree
- Giant Mook: A Scary Black Man henchman tries to smush Jian after he attacks a pimp who was abusing Jessica. The larger of the two brothers at the police station also qualifies.
- Guns Akimbo
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Jessica
- Hostage for Macguffin: Defied by Jian. Richard tries to trade Jessica's daughter for the tapes of a murder. Jian has already turned the tapes in, and is now going to get the daughter.
- Hostage Situation: Richard tries to play the card again face to face, and it's still defied. Jian points out that in the time it takes Richard to kill the girl, Jian will kill him. Richard instead elects to shoot Jian, which goes even worse (if he had shot the girl, he'd at least have spite to his name, all he managed instead was a minor wound).
- I Have Your Daughter
- Improvised Weapon: Among other things, Jian beats up mooks with a scooter, a broom, and with dual irons.
- Obviously Evil: Inspector Richard. When Jian firsts meet him, you knew he was the Big Bad.
- Oh Crap: "Now I know where you are. I'm coming up."
- One-Man Army: Jian plows through an entire police station, which happens to have a hand-to-hand combat course in session.
- Out with a Bang: A killer prostitute (specifically an assassin targeting a specific victim) asks her victim things like "Do you want to go to heaven?" and "Are you ready to go to heaven?" as she's riding him to (his) orgasm. He asks her to take him there, in no frame of mind to notice just how long and sharp the hairpins she's holding are. Mortality ensues.
- Right-Hand-Cat: Richard has a pet turtle that he keeps in a drawer in his desk.
- Shout-Out: The ending, with Jian calmly explaining to Richard how the Pressure Point technique he just did will kill him, is very, very reminiscent of Fist of the North Star.
- Spiritual Licensee: For all the problems Hollywood had adapting Fist of the North Star, they certainly had an easier time with Fist of the Blue Sky. Shame they had to go and retitle it.
- Stealth Pun: The Big Bad, who basically goes out of his way to be an asshole at every opportunity, is named Inspector Richard. No one makes the obvious connection.
- Touch of Death / You Are Already Dead: The film's title refers to a technique in which an acupuncture needle is stabbed into a Pressure Point in someone's neck, causing all the blood to flow to the head thus causing aneurysm. Jian does it to Richard in the climax.
- You Just Told Me: In order to get Richard's location in the building, Jian asks him to look out the window. Richard thinks Jian already knows, thus betraying himself when he complies.