UNLEASHED — *** — Jet Li, Bob Hoskins, Morgan Freeman; rated R (violence, profanity, gore, vulgarity, brief sex, brief nudity); see Page W2 for theaters.

To say that Jet Li needed "Unleashed" is something of an understatement.

While Li became a star in Asia because of such hit films as the "Once Upon a Time in China" series in the 1990s, the movies he has made since have, for the most part, been duds.

Of course, "Unleashed" isn't perfect. In fact, this revenge/action thriller has sometimes wincingly brutal violence, which may turn off much of the prospective audiences. But it also has a good story and good characters, and for a change, the filmmakers use Li's talents correctly.

In fact, "Unleashed" is easily his best, most consistently exciting film in quite some time.

Li stars as Danny, the trained "animal" of Bart (Bob Hoskins), a loan shark who has Danny on a collar and only sets him free to pummel anyone who refuses to pay up.

Bart is also hoping to use Danny in some high-stakes, fight-to-the-death matches with other fighters. But before he can, one of Bart's former enemies tries to kill him, accidently freeing Danny in the process.

Fortunately, the wounded, nearly mute Danny finds shelter in the apartment of Sam (Morgan Freeman), a blind piano tuner who tries to teach him a more peaceful life path and helps him uncover his past.

Though the film was credited to director Louis Leterrier ("The Transporter"), it has the unmistakable imprint of filmmaker Luc Besson, who produced and wrote the script. There are some moments of surprising tenderness, and the filmmakers have wisely kept Li's dialogue to a minimum, which forces him to act with facial expressions.

It's also fair to say that putting Li opposite such big-screen heavyweights as Hoskins and Freeman actually seems to have improved his acting as well.

Those who are fans of Li's acrobatic fighting style won't be disappointed, either. The action scenes were choreographed by Yuen Wo-Ping (of "The Matrix" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" fame) and are pretty spectacular — especially a close-quarters fight in a hallway, and one in which Li's character takes on four opponents armed with axes, sledgehammers and other implements.

"Unleashed" is rated R for strong scenes of martial arts/action violence (including hand-to-hand combat, shootings, vehicular violence and some violence against women), occasional use of strong sexual profanity, gore, use of crude slang terms, some brief sexual content, and brief female nudity. Running time: 102 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com