Hey folks, Harry here... I just saw this film myself a couple of days ago and pretty much concur with Reno's review, which you'll find below... Except that I'll add something... I actually prefered this film to the last several James Bond flicks. It feels like a mix of FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and NORTH BY NORTHWEST... now don't get me wrong, it's not in the same league with those, but it recalls them in mind. And for the first time ever in a Jackie Chan film... I was actually distracted and brought out of the film by the 'action scenes'... I liked them, but I preferred the dramatics of the story. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? This is some of Chan's best character work in years. Superb work by him. By all means check this one out... SUBTITLED.... if you get a chance. It is well worth it!
Hey Harry,
Reno here, with a look at Jackie Chan's latest Hong Kong flick, "The Accidental Spy."
Some long time fans of Chan have complained that his more recent films have been fairly thin in both story and action sequences. While Jackie may be slowing down and not doing the spectacular stunts of his heyday (He's 47 years old after all), "Accidental Spy" is a meatier movie than much of his more recent Hong Kong product.
Some SPOLIERS ahead. . .
The film opens with a news crew arriving in Turkey to produce a story about an outbreak of what is believed to pneumonia. When the crew arrives at a research station, several masked commandos emerge from the surrounding brush and massacre scientists and news crew alike. (The reporter appears to be played by Gabrielle Fitzpatrick, perhaps as an in joke to her reporter character in Chan's "A Nice Guy" (AKA "Mr. Nice Guy"). If you hated her performance in that movie like I did, you'll enjoy watching her get gunned down. . .)
Cut to two months later. Jackie is Buck Yuen, a salesman of exercise equipment. While on a lunch break, he helps to foil a bank robbery in an action set piece that involves a fight in an elevator and swinging a construction crane through a high rise office building. Hailed by the papers as a hero, Yuen is approached by Many Liu ("Gen X Cops"'s Eric Tsang) who claims to be a private investigator trying to reunite a dying man with his son whom he gave up for adoption years ago. Many believes that Yuen is that son.
Yuen travels to Seoul where he meets the man who may be his father, Park. Yuen has a vague memory of his parents- a fuzzy recollection of them dangling a shiny cross over his crib. Park has the same cross. Later, Yuen is approached by reporter Carmen Wong (Min Jeong Kim), who tells him about Park's past history as a spy for North Korea. Park soon dies, but sets Yuen on a game to find a treasure that he has hidden.
Following clues found on the cross, as well as a key, a dried tulip and the words "Wait For Me" inscribed on Park's wife's gravesite, Yuen finds himself a stash of money in a safe deposit box in Istanbul. Yuen soon finds himself trapped between several factions who are all trying to find the only existing vials of a mutated strain of Anthrax, developed by the scientists from the films opening and stolen and hidden by Park. Chases and mayhem ensue with the film culminating with a "Speed" riff involving a burning gasoline tanker.
This is probably the darkest film that Chan has done since "Crime Story." Yuen is a more serious and grimmer person than the typical, happy-go-lucky character Jackie usually portrays. The director, Teddy Chen (who also wrote Jet Li's "Black Mask") seems to be going for the feel of Western espionage film and for the most part succeeds. (A reviewer at this site stated that "Accidental Spy" comes off as a bad Roger Moore Bond flick and I couldn't disagree more. While it may not rank up with the Connery Bonds, it certainly doesn't approach the campy, ridiculous gadget filled level of the Moore Bonds.) Another change from the usual Chan film formula is when the lead female (Vivian Hsu) is killed about midway through the movie.
There are some faults with the films. Yuen supposedly is capable of making intuitive leaps of logic. Unfortunately, these leaps only seem to happen when the plot needs them to happen. Also, some moments that probably would have helped the narrative are skimmed over. The most troubling of these is Yuen's first meeting with his father- after introductions are made, the film cuts away to another scene. If we had more time with Yuen and his supposed father, the viewer might more readily accept his sudden desire to play his "father"'s game.
But, as with every Jackie Chan movie, the ultimate question is this- How are the stunts? For a 47 year old, Chan is still limber, but I can't help but get worried watching him hanging onto a crane as it smashes its way through several glass windows. The stunts are filmed in a more straightforward fashion, in keeping with the film's style. The only time things approach Chan's usual level of comedy is during a fight scene/chase from a Turkish bath outside through an open air spice market. Yuen starts off the sequence clad only in a towel, which he quickly looses. The remainder of the sequence involves Yeun trying to keep his modesty covered and the bit turns into a fight scene crossed with an old style, burlesque fan dance.
According to Amazon.com the film is scheduled for a region 1 DVD release today, but none of the on line retailers I checked are offering it. When it does become more widely available, Chan fans who have been less than enthralled with some of his more recent work may want to check "The Accidental Spy" out. It may just surprise them.
RENO out
