What do Jet Li and Bob Hoskins have in common? No, it's not they're both diminutive actors who should never have gone to Hollywood, they happen to be starring in the dramatically titled 'Unleashed'. Producer (read: wouldn't touch it with his own bargepole) Luc Besson has enlisted Massive Attack to score the film. The result is exactly as you'd think it would be. Moody scenes are shown by mournful piano pieces and forlorn string sections and those crucial moments where Jet gets Li-Thal are accompanied by speeding 500bpm snare drums and squawking basslines.
Bands doing the music for films have a past more chequered of that of Oliver Reed, The Who's 'Tommy' and Mariah Carey's 'Glitter are seen to be among celluloid's most despicable outputs. More recently though, Air and RZA have given us impressive soundtracks for 'The Vigin Suicides' and 'Kill Bill' respectively. Between these two polars is where 'Unleashed' lies with lethargy, the record's main fault being a real lack of imagination. There's nothing different here to any other action film that's been made since 'The Matrix' and you'd really expect Massive Attack to offer us something different.
It all feels like it's been rushed out on software from a cereal packet. The relieve the tedium I found myself invented dialogue to fit the scenes like "Captain, He's Escaped!" and "Let The Games Begin!". I'm sure this unadventorous waste of talent works nicely in conjunction with the film, but nobody needs it in their collection.
