by SARAH ROWLAND

Created to show off Jet Li's emotional range without alienating his chop sockey fans, Unleashed ping-pongs between bone-crushing ultra-violence and nauseatingly sweet sentimentality.

Scriptwriter Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita) and director Louis Leterrier (The Transporter) have Li playing Danny Boy, an emotionally stunted killing machine who rediscovers his love for music after spending most of his life being treated like a trained guard dog by ruthless loan shark Bart (Bob Hoskins). And as people who default on their debts find out the hard way, Danny is so completely brainwashed that all Bart has to do is remove Danny's collar and he will sic 'em.

But when one of Bart's rival gang members puts him out of commission, the masterless Danny is left to wander the streets of Glasgow looking for a home. He winds up in the safe arms of a blind piano tuner, Sam (Morgan Freeman), and his 18-year-old stepdaughter Victoria (Kerry Condon). This saintly pair train their pet beast to grocery shop, use utensils, read music and ann-un-ci-ate.

Naturally, the hit man with the 10-year-old intellect thrives under these loving conditions and goes from smashing skulls to gently squeezing melons in the local produce section, where Sam teaches him that "Ripe is sweet and sweet is gooood." It's scenes like these where director Louis Leterrier forsakes subtlety once and for all.

As the over-the-top crimeboss Bart keeps rising from the dead to reclaim his canine investment, Danny's new family becomes increasingly more sappy.

This is never more true than when Victoria and Danny stop for ice cream on the way home, virtually spoiling their "app-e-tites," and forcing Sam to give them a firm talking-to. But his anger melts away as fast as their frozen treats, and the hokey trio are once again hugging, singing and saying grace around the dinner table.

The only person who doesn't test your gag reflex here is Li. His earnest performance as a cowering pooch learning to socialize - and the ass-kicking martial arts sequences - save this movie from being a complete joke. His co-stars and collaborators, on the other hand, should be sent to the doghouse.

Unleashed opens Friday, May 13

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