Review: Around the World in 80 Days
June 15, 2004; Regal Falmouth #9
* * ½ (out of 4)
I’m a sucker for Jackie Chan; he is easily one of the most continually entertaining performers in the industry with his martial arts abilities, and he’s made a pretty solid attempt to learn English so he can fit in the comedy as well. While 80 Days is by no means Jackie’s best movie, his martial arts are as solid as ever, and some of the best cameos I’ve seen in a long time overshadow a pretty uninventive plot.
Chan is Lau Xing, who has been sent from his village in China to secure a sacred item that was stolen from them. He finds the item in London, where he also finds Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan), eccentric scientist and inventor. Fogg is challenged by his colleagues to circumnavigate the world in 80 days or less; if he does it, he becomes the leader of the organization, but failure means he must never invent again. Lau Xing sees this as his best opportunity to return home, so he masquerades as Fogg’s valet, naturally befriending Fogg along the way. In first-stop Paris they pick up Monique La Roche (Cécile De France), a struggling artist who wants to see the world, and the three head off across Asia, the US, and eventually back to London, inevitably getting into all sorts of trouble along the way.
I will give Jackie Chan credit… he has come a long way as an English-speaking actor. There are very few lines you need to really work at to understand, and he’s gotten a very good grasp of the flow of American films. The problem with what he’s given here is that his dialogue will either blatantly push him towards an action sequence, or it is used to stop whatever train of thought the film was on and start a new one in a completely different direction. In fact, the writing overall leaves quite a bit to be desired. Understandably, the film is built on the action scenes Chan is famous for, so the rest aims for those, but that doesn’t mean the rest needs to be dropped altogether. Steve Coogan is, I’ve heard, fully capable of handling more mature dialogue… all he has here are some one liners, and clips playing off Fogg’s, “Look at me, I’m socially awkward” characteristics.
But then there’s the good. The dialogue aims towards Chan’s fighting because it is easily the best stuff in the movie. In a few of his last projects (namely The Medallion and The Tuxedo), it was apparent that he was relying more on wires and effects instead of the clever choreography that makes him a joy to watch; it raised some questions about whether he could still pull off some of his more elaborate stunts – not that anyone could blame him at age 50. But in 80 Days he returns to the creativity that brought him fame. Some of my favorite involves Jackie using found objects – benches, paintbrushes, hats, whatever he can get his hands on. This felt a lot more like his classics (Jui Kuen II) than his more recent, less impressive works.
The hidden gems in this movie are the cameos. They’re everywhere, and they are from everyone. Governor Arnold, Rob Schneider, Kathy Bates, Sammo Hung, John Cleese, but the best comes from Owen and Luke Wilson, playing the Wright Brothers. Their part is small enough to not pull away from the scope of the movie, but lasts long enough to establish that they were perfect choices for the written part.
Visually, the movie is very unique, and I think I liked it for that. Director Frank Coraci made some different and rather silly choices for how he would show the progress of 80 days without showing every day. His Indiana Jones-esque map is a little crazy and busy, but it works with the tone of the movie. Also amusing is some of the “far-fetched” ideas and inventions that Coraci gives Fogg – roller shoes, automatic carriages, whistle-activated lights, wind-powered electricity… he takes a number of things that seem commonplace now, and show exactly how preposterous they might have seemed in 19th-century Britain.
Around the World in 80 Days is fun, mostly because Jackie Chan returns doing what he does best. The slapstick-style martial arts are something in which very few people can come close to touching him; it really is his domain. Unfortunately, he overshadows the other two “leads” in the film; sad, because I liked what I saw of Steve Coogan, and I bet he can be very funny if he isn’t always serving as a set-up guy. All in all, this is a tame, family-friendly adventure, and no less than a fun movie – but oftentimes no more, either.
June 15, 2004; Regal Falmouth #9
* * ½ (out of 4)
I’m a sucker for Jackie Chan; he is easily one of the most continually entertaining performers in the industry with his martial arts abilities, and he’s made a pretty solid attempt to learn English so he can fit in the comedy as well. While 80 Days is by no means Jackie’s best movie, his martial arts are as solid as ever, and some of the best cameos I’ve seen in a long time overshadow a pretty uninventive plot.
Chan is Lau Xing, who has been sent from his village in China to secure a sacred item that was stolen from them. He finds the item in London, where he also finds Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan), eccentric scientist and inventor. Fogg is challenged by his colleagues to circumnavigate the world in 80 days or less; if he does it, he becomes the leader of the organization, but failure means he must never invent again. Lau Xing sees this as his best opportunity to return home, so he masquerades as Fogg’s valet, naturally befriending Fogg along the way. In first-stop Paris they pick up Monique La Roche (Cécile De France), a struggling artist who wants to see the world, and the three head off across Asia, the US, and eventually back to London, inevitably getting into all sorts of trouble along the way.
I will give Jackie Chan credit… he has come a long way as an English-speaking actor. There are very few lines you need to really work at to understand, and he’s gotten a very good grasp of the flow of American films. The problem with what he’s given here is that his dialogue will either blatantly push him towards an action sequence, or it is used to stop whatever train of thought the film was on and start a new one in a completely different direction. In fact, the writing overall leaves quite a bit to be desired. Understandably, the film is built on the action scenes Chan is famous for, so the rest aims for those, but that doesn’t mean the rest needs to be dropped altogether. Steve Coogan is, I’ve heard, fully capable of handling more mature dialogue… all he has here are some one liners, and clips playing off Fogg’s, “Look at me, I’m socially awkward” characteristics.
But then there’s the good. The dialogue aims towards Chan’s fighting because it is easily the best stuff in the movie. In a few of his last projects (namely The Medallion and The Tuxedo), it was apparent that he was relying more on wires and effects instead of the clever choreography that makes him a joy to watch; it raised some questions about whether he could still pull off some of his more elaborate stunts – not that anyone could blame him at age 50. But in 80 Days he returns to the creativity that brought him fame. Some of my favorite involves Jackie using found objects – benches, paintbrushes, hats, whatever he can get his hands on. This felt a lot more like his classics (Jui Kuen II) than his more recent, less impressive works.
The hidden gems in this movie are the cameos. They’re everywhere, and they are from everyone. Governor Arnold, Rob Schneider, Kathy Bates, Sammo Hung, John Cleese, but the best comes from Owen and Luke Wilson, playing the Wright Brothers. Their part is small enough to not pull away from the scope of the movie, but lasts long enough to establish that they were perfect choices for the written part.
Visually, the movie is very unique, and I think I liked it for that. Director Frank Coraci made some different and rather silly choices for how he would show the progress of 80 days without showing every day. His Indiana Jones-esque map is a little crazy and busy, but it works with the tone of the movie. Also amusing is some of the “far-fetched” ideas and inventions that Coraci gives Fogg – roller shoes, automatic carriages, whistle-activated lights, wind-powered electricity… he takes a number of things that seem commonplace now, and show exactly how preposterous they might have seemed in 19th-century Britain.
Around the World in 80 Days is fun, mostly because Jackie Chan returns doing what he does best. The slapstick-style martial arts are something in which very few people can come close to touching him; it really is his domain. Unfortunately, he overshadows the other two “leads” in the film; sad, because I liked what I saw of Steve Coogan, and I bet he can be very funny if he isn’t always serving as a set-up guy. All in all, this is a tame, family-friendly adventure, and no less than a fun movie – but oftentimes no more, either.
posted by Matt S. at
10:48 PM
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