Kiss of the Dragon

Martial arts star Jet Li (Romeo Must Die, Lethal Weapon 4) supplied the story for this bloody, breathless action-conspiracy film. Luc Bresson (the auteur of La Femme Nikita and The Fifth Element) produced and co-wrote the screenplay. The agile Li plays a Beijing police operative who kicks butt all over Paris (from four-star hotel and seamy City of Lights streets to glass dinner boat on the Seine) with deadly precision after being framed for murder by a sadistic French inspector (The Patriot’s Tcheky Karyo). Bridget Fonda as a smack-addicted prostitute-mom-farm girl from North Dakota is the weakest link in plot points that are at times blurrier than Li’s flying feet. The title refers to a strategically applied acupuncture needle that causes gruesome death. Chris Nahon’s directorial debut is for hardcore action fans only.