"Danny the Dog" was the original title, but "Unleashed" is barking up the same tree. It's the result of martial arts star Jet Li's desire to reteam with French writer-producer Luc Besson, whose "Kiss the Dragon" helped make Li a star in the States. This time, the Chinese action hero said he wanted to do something more dramatic.

And therein lies the conundrum at the heart of "Unleashed."

	Jet Li, center, portrays an orphan raised to be an attack dog of sorts in "Unleashed." Click photo for larger image. "Unleashed" Rating: R for strong violent content, language and some sexuality/nudity. Starring: Jet Li, Morgan Freeman. Director: Louis Leterrier.

Besson's brainstorm follows a Glasgow mob boss with a unique form of rackets enforcement: a slave trained to remain docile until he's unshackled from his steel collar and ordered to attack with murderous fury. When the attack "dog" is separated from his master, his first exposure to civilized life and classical music stir new feelings and sentimental memories of his childhood.

With the help of friend and fight choreographer Yuen Wo Ping -- who put the kick in "The Matrix" trilogy, the "Kill Bill" films and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" -- Li is superb in the action sequences.

Director Louis Leterrier ("The Transporter") was wise enough to caution that Li's untrained, simple-minded character wouldn't use the superstar's trademark moves, forcing Li and Wo Ping to come up with appropriately vicious and reckless fight sequences, which Li performs admirably.

Li's dramatic range is less expansive. Besson and Leterrier's challenge was to invent a character who grows emotionally, and that Li could convincingly play. They succeed. When ordered to "heel," Danny the combat slave shows all the emotional range of a brick wall. When unleashed, he goes through the usual karate-master facial routines. When separated from his master and cared for by a kind new trainer, his maturity level slowly grows to that of a 10-year-old. It's a dramatic range that Li can handle.

Bob Hoskins has no trouble articulating the complexity of his cruel character. He can be charming in a manipulative, duplicitous, self-aggrandizing way and suddenly snap, revealing a sociopathic monster who enslaves a boy, teaches him to kill and uses him for decades as his personal attack dog.

Morgan Freeman has a way of getting to the core of his characters. After reading the script, he recommended one vital change: He'd play Danny's new piano-tuning mentor as a blind man. That solved some practical problems and opened new possibilities that Freeman freely explores.

As Freeman's wild and open-minded stepdaughter, Kerry Condon ("The Halo Effect," "Angela's Ashes") gives Danny the friendship he's never experienced and the possibility of a sexual relationship, adding new dimensions to his emotional growth. Li never seems to bond with Condon, but her freewheeling demeanor is contagious.

Which leads back to the film's main stumbling block. Fight fans who go to see Li kicking up a storm will find the star in fast-paced fight sequences that sidestep his signature high-flying moves. Audiences in search of an engaging drama will find a central character who shows little dramatic latitude.

"Unleashed" is a good martial arts film, perhaps too good to satisfy some fans' specific interests. It's also a promising personal drama, perhaps too reserved to reach the emotional critical mass that drama fans demand.