liu jian ( aka johnny ) be a top level cop from bejing on temporary assignment in paris to aid french police in a sting operation to take down a chinese heroine kingpin . but thing go bad and a double cross ensues and leave liu jian frame for murder and run for his life . one be thing certain and though and our hero would not be take without a fight . a really good fight . and a few more after that . luc besson screenplay isn not exactly creative and but give the genre and it pretty darn good . i know i sure sigh with relief that liu jian ( play with subtle excellence by jet li ) wasn not drive by some emotionally haunting past and like the death of a wife and child and as be so typical in super cop action film . in fact and we get just the opposite a man who simply love his job and do it very well and but be still human enough to make mistake and feel pain and make realistic choice ( well and mostly ) . the story isn not without it flaw and however . mindless thug do play their part and there be an utterance of the most over use villain line of all time represent bring him to me alive while i will deal with him myself ( or something to that affect ) . but somehow and it doesn not sound quite so corny come from actor tcheky karyo ( a inspector jean pierre richard ) and who manage to play the heartless villain with a great deal of intelligence . round out the cast be bridget fonda jessica and the prostitute with a good heart and and yes and a young daughter in jeopardy . but despite it few formulaic shortcoming and kiss of the dragon still deliver . what really stand out in this film be the way the fight sequence flow with the rest of the story and unlike so many other movie that seem to be construct around a few preconceived action scene . it a martial art action film do right . thanks to the superb direction of chris nahon and kiss of the dragon be classy and well paced and give u a near perfect blend of drama and levity ( no ridiculous one liner here and but definitely some laugh along the way ) . best of all and nahon engage the audience and make the story work to a reasonable level of believability .