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Review
by Kozo: |
After a two-year layoff, Jackie Chan returns to Hong Kong
film with this international-flavored action-adventure from
director Teddy Chan (Downtown Torpedoes). Chan is Buck
Yuen, a fitness equipment salesman who happens into an international
spy chase. Buck is fingered by a dying Korean spy as his long-lost
son, and sets out across the globe to find his supposed inheritance.
Buck's journey leads to to Turkey,
but things aren't what they seem. Even though he finds the
money, numerous parties begin chasing him asking about some
other package that he isn't entirely aware of. Among these
parties is evil businessman Wu Xing-Guo and his innocent moll
(Vivian Hsu). The missing package turns out to be a deadly
virus called Anthrax II, and everyone and their brother wants
it for the obvious biological warfare applications. What's
a normal guy like Buck to do?
As a Jackie Chan film, The Accidental
Spy fits neatly within his recent body of work. It showcases
terrific foreign locations, an international cast, and multiple
spoken languages. However, like Mr. Nice Guy or Who
Am I?, this international marketing approach yields an
almost colorless film. The Accidental Spy compensates
by using Eric Tsang and Alfred Cheung in supporting roles,
but as usual it's up to Chan to carry the picture all by himself.
He does through his usual physical comedy, but his age is
showing. There aren't any really impressive stunts or insanity
to speak of, and the comedy aspect is muted too. He has no
real co-stars to play off of, and we're left with a standard
action thriller.
This is even more apparent in the
final sequences of the film, which go from an international
spy chase to a rip-off of Speed, complete with a vehicle
that can't slow down or else it'll explode. Why this happens
is obvious: thrills! However, it's not why we go to see Jackie
Chan movies. We see them for the choreography and for Chan's
generous comedic persona. Both are in evidence here, but only
in small doses. His age hinders the action and his need for
international appeal renders his Hong Kong films free of any
local charm or flavor.
At this point in Jackie Chan's career,
he's better suited to the Rush Hour formula, which
allows for more comedy to compensate for Chan's advancing
age. All of this doesn't necessarily mean that The Accidental
Spy is a bad film. On the contrary, it's a competent,
efficient action-adventure that gets the job done. It just
doesn't enthrall and amaze like the best Jackie Chan movies
do. And it isn't as funny as Rush Hour or Shanghai
Noon, either. (Kozo 2001) |
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