I remember when Lethal Weapon 4 came out. There was this asian actor, Jet Li, very good and very popular in the Orient, though, like many other asian actors -- Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh -- virtually unknown in the States. Some people said he was going to be the next big asian crossover star. After three years maybe it's a bit too soon to tell.

Kiss of the Dragon is Jet Li's third US film and the second one he's starred in, the other being the rather weirdly-titled Romeo Must Die. In this film, which seems to have been shot in France, Li plays Liu Jian (or Johnny), an undercover police officer from the People's Republic of China serving as an observer to the French police (probably in Paris). There's a big drug sting about to go down, involving a Chinese businessman and his French connection.

TchŽky Karyo plays Jean-Pierre Richard, a top French police officer and in charge of the sting (he insists on calling Liu Jian "Johnny" since he doesn't want to try to correctly pronounce the Chinese name). Right from the two's first meeting we know that there's something not quite right there, as we see Richard beating up on a local perp as his personal retinue watch. Or maybe that's just how it's done in France.

In any case, Jian has to be searched before the meeting and his police-issue pistol is confiscated by Richard. But we also see that wears a wrist band with a slew of pins on his left wrist. Actually I didn't know what that was at first. Kind of reminded me of an old Kung Fu film I saw when I was a kid, where one of the characters had wrist bands with nails strapped in and he'd throw the nails as a weapon. Naturally, being a Kung Fu film he could throw the nails through trees and other hard cover.

Back to the movie. Everything is set up for the sting. Lots of French under- cover officers abound and surveillance cameras everywhere. But the French contact is late and the Chinese man is getting impatient. Enter two badly dressed prostitutes (I know it's a stereo-type but they can't all wear heavy makeup and garish clothes) led by the French contacts lieutenant. The LT is apologetic that his boss is late and offers the businessman some of the local entertainment.

Well, at least he can enjoy himself while he waits. So the trio go upstairs, followed by the three Chinese bodyguards. One of the women is quite nervous and has to go to the bathroom to be sick. The bodyguards are sent outside, loud music is playing, the first woman is entertaining the businessman, the French police are watching the action. And then suddenly the prostitute is stabbing the businessman with a hairpin (though probably more of a stiletto stuck in there).

The bodyguards don't hear anything. Liu Jian rushes in there, beating up the bodyguards, and stops the prostitute, using acupuncture to disable her (and that's what the pins are for). The businessman needs medical aid so Jian starts dialing the local 911. And then Richard walks in and shoots the businessman, then the prostitute. "Tsk tsk tsk, it seems as if you went crazy and gunned down these two people," he says as he drops Jian's pistol on the floor. There's a sound from the bathroom. Richard turns that way and when he turns back Jian is gone! "Find him!" he yells to his men, and the chase is on...

So Jian has to prove his innocence and remain free in a foreign city. He does manage to grab one of the surveillance tapes which accidentally captured Richard shooting the two victims. There's also the other prostitute, Jessica (played by Bridget Fonda), who knows some things even though she didn't actually see the crime. But Jessica and Jian haven't seen each other clearly, so when they meet they don't recognize each other, a nice little twist in the movie.

There's a lot of martial arts action, mostly French guys trying to be bad. Every time these French guys want to mix it up with Jian I keep thinking "no way a bunch of sissy French guys beat a Chinese man at martial arts." The plot's not too bad and the dialogue is dominated by Karyo and Fonda -- for some reason the strong silent type of American action films is carried over to the asian action stars, though maybe it's the same in foreign films.

In conclusion, this is an entertaining film. Lots of action and lots of gun play. Doesn't really bring anything new to the genre, but it does what it does well. And at the end everything is resolved satisfactorily.