A crucial part of Jules Verne's novel Around the World in 80 Days was exploring and celebrating the expanding Earth of the late 19th-century through the different experiences found all over the globe. This 2004 Walden Media film, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, is less concerned with that and more interested in being a vehicle for international action star Jackie Chan to engage in his fast-paced stunt work.
Chan's character is quickly introduced and an impromptu hiring makes him valet to a the quirky British inventor Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan). The clearly Asian Chan passes himself off as a French man named Passepartout to avoid suspicion in a recent Bank of England robbery that has gathered the full attention of the nation's Ministry of Science, an institution that Fogg finds himself at odds with.
Steve Coogan plays the resourceful Phileas Fogg and Jackie Chan is his valet Passepartout. Jim Broadbent plays the bland villain Lord Kelvin, Britain's Minister of Science.
Always up to a challenge, Fogg makes a bet with the Ministry's pompous head Lord Kelvin (Jim Broadbent) that he will be able to travel around the world in just 80 days. This sets Fogg, a man responsible
for such creations as a sound-response light system, off to circumnavigate the globe and see the places he never has. (In this version, Fogg has never left England before.)
This new film adaptation makes a number of changes to the text, some to play into the presence of Jackie Chan (making martial arts and Asian villains frequently-used tools), and some to simply serve a modern audience. The protagonist Phileas Fogg has more insecurities and more flair than the character as written, and now there's a lady along for the ride, Monique (Cécile De France), the headstrong French artist and obvious love interest.
Overall, this new adaptation feels pretty clunky. After a very slow start, the film picks up a bit but even when it finds a sufficient pace, the film goes nowhere as its trio of protagonists go everywhere. At no point does there feel like there's a greater meaning to the episodic journey. Adventure is present, but not particularly engaging, and any rush is negated by simply recalling the lack of menace posed by Lord Kelvin and the other poorly-defined stuffy British villains set on making Fogg's trek more challenging.
Passepartout uses the power of his tophat to defeat an Asian bad guy. Phileas meets Monique, the obligatory French artist love interest.
Several times, the film suffers from star-catering, as Jackie Chan's readily-displayed antics sideshow the plot, dampen the momentum, and make the potentially reasonable 2-hour runtime feel very excessive. Giving Chan the free reign to engage in his stunt-filled action sequences gets tired very fast, and the extended fight scenes in China and New York are quite tedious. Not to mention that the same sort of violence that has been Chan's trademark for decades has subtly progressed to a family-friendly PG-rated domain. While weapons (which now include drums and paint) are used sparingly, there's still a surprising amount of fighting (albeit comic fighting), which makes for that inevitably odd blend that results from marrying Jackie Chan with "Disney."
Like the 1956 Around the World in 80 Days, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, this one features a sprinkling of amusing cameos. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays an egomaniacal Turkish prince well on his way to realizing his goal of having a different wife for each day of the week. Rob Schneider excels in the San Francisco scenes, giving the best homeless guy performance since Steve Buscemi in Big Daddy and being responsible for many of the film's biggest laughs. Owen Wilson and brother Luke show up as the down-to-earth Wright Brothers, and Kathy Bates appears as the Queen of England.
These cameos are a highlight of the film, and rise above some of the leading performances from the international cast. Among them, Chan and De France have charisma which shines through, beyond their obvious language difficulties. Steve Coogan looks the part, but he is wooden as the rather dull protagonist.
Rob Schneider succeeds in getting lots of laughs in his short appearance as a San Francisco hobo. Arnold Schwarzenegger is not on auto-pilot for his cameo as a Turkish prince.
Looking to expand beyond Adam Sandler comedies with this more challenging multi-genre project, Frank Coraci's direction offers a hodgepodge of styles that lack one clearly definable feel. There just isn't consistency, and while it's partly intentional (to distinguish the various locales), it's not easy to warm to. Computer-animated worlds sometimes act as a transitioning map, a location and day number occassionally remind us where we are (always in a different font), and fast-paced editing and zooms given this "Before the Turn of the Century" (though the century is not specified) piece a much modern look than its setting would merit.
Another drawback: Around the World relies heavily on slapstick, which is both comedically weak and unnecessary for the rest of the film. The light-hearted tone does not fail altogether, but the sight gags and pratfalls just seem like they belong in a different film.
Though the late-19th century setting of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days is an important character (and perhaps the most important one), the book has a kind of timeless, universal appeal that made a film version in the '50s relevant and entertaining and could make a new adaptation feel the same. But that is not this film, which diverges from the text. Its desire to merge Jules Verne with Jackie Chan does not resonate and does not consistently delight.
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comedy, and scenery from across the globe. Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan,24 Hour Party People), an obsessively precise inventor, bets that he can circumnavigate the...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The 2004 version ofAround the World in 80 Daysis an entertaining hodge-podge of adventure, ... more
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Advantages: Some funny moments, its entertaining, range of actors used (both English & American) Disadvantages: Slightly slow in parts, a bit cheesy/predictable
Advantages: Some funny moments, its entertaining, range of actors used (both English & American) Disadvantages: Slightly slow in parts, a bit cheesy/predictable
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Feb 14th, 2006
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