Then Danny discovers music and a friend in a blind piano-tuner named Sam (Morgan Freeman). The sounds of a piano and a friendly voice briefly distract Danny from his enforcer duties. Although he snaps out of his daze and returns to the fight, the music remains with him. When Bart offers to reward Danny with anything he wants after a particularly successful bloodfest, Danny refuses the proffered lobster dinner and prostitute, and requests a piano. Bart refuses. Moments later, fate frees Danny from the oppressive control of his master and frees him to stumble back to Sam, where he collapses in a broken and bloody heap.

Now, this may be mildly entertaining as surface-level narrative, but it takes on a whole new dimension when you embrace an allegorical interpretation of this tale. Danny becomes an everyman who has been mastered by sin (the collar placed on him by Bart). Danny is unable to escape or even recognize his enslaving bonds without help. His life is changed only when he encounters the gospel (here in the form of piano music), the good news revealed to him by the Father (the kind and gentle Sam), before whom he falls to the ground broken and bleeding.

After this encounter, Sam takes Danny to his house and, with the help of his daughter, Victoria (Kerry Condon), nurses him back to life. Slowly, Danny adapts to his new life and begins to connect with Victoria (now become an embodiment of the Holy Spirit). Finally, Danny develops enough trust in Victoria to allow her to remove his collar. Danny becomes a part of the family and is even invited by Sam to move back to New York (Heaven) with the two of them when Victoria graduates college. Danny understand the offer until Sam explains it to him in the most basic terms: “This is just a temporary home. We only came here so that Victoria could attend school. What I'm trying to say Danny, is after Victoria graduates, we're going to go back home. We're going to go back to New York. And, well, I don't know how this would work out, but we would really like for you to come with us, because we've come to think of you as family, and well that's what families do - they stick together, at least this one does. So what do you say?”

Shortly after this, however, Bart finds Danny again and threatens to harm his new family if Danny doesn’t resume his old role as enforcer. In order to protect Sam and Victoria, Danny allows himself to be chained again, but he is a changed man. He tells Bart that he doesn’t want to kill anymore, but is forced to in order to save his own life. He continues struggling against his bonds and eventually sets himself free—sin (Bart) comes after him one more time with an amazing show of force, but Danny resists him and repels the evil one’s attack with the help of his new family.

This movie can be enjoyed as a simple action-filled romp through the modern ideals of freedom and family, but I challenge you to find in it an effective allegory for the spiritual warfare going on all around us. Unleashed (or Danny the Dog, as it was originally titled) reminds me of one of my favorite verses in the Bible. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 NIV. Though we may have been freed once from sin’s collar of bondage, we must continue to stand firm and fight like Jet Li’s character if we want to remain truly unleashed.