Around the World in 80 Days
 Sep 24th, 2007
Advantages:
Some funny moments, its entertaining, range of actors used (both English & American)
Disadvantages:
Slightly slow in parts, a bit cheesy/predictable
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
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  IzzyS
About me:
The Ciao gremlins are at work again - shoo; shoo! sorry if I dont re-rate you, let me know, I cant s...
Member since:27.07.2006
Reviews:234
Members who trust:87
Review rated by 26 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
I found this DVD being sold very cheap (under £3 including delivery) on Amazon Marketplace and as I generally enjoy Chan's comedy adventures such as the Rush Hour and Shanghai movies and I heard there's a cameo in this movie featuring the Wilson brothers who I also am very much fond of, so I decided I had to get this and got it earlier in the week, I watched it last night and I wasn't too disappointed either. This is a good general entertainment family movie, it would make for a good early Sunday evening family movie on TV or something similar, I reckon! This movie is very loosely based on the original book by Jules Verne and there have been many different reincarnations of this, from what im aware of, I remember as a child watching the cartoon version on, I think, CBBC, which featured a rather posh cat as Fogg, that was quite amusing... but anyway, back to this movie...
For anyone who isn't aware of the plot of 'Around the World in 80 Days', well really the clue is in the title! it basically tells the story of a somewhat eccentric Victorian English inventor called Phileas Fogg (played by Steve Coogan), who ends up making a bet with the head of the Royal Academy of Science, that he is able to basically circumnavigate the globe in no more than 80 days. If he manages this, then the head has to resign and he gets his position but if he doesn't manage it, then he has to leave the academy and never invent again. So, of course, he's very determined to prove that he can do it and he sets out on this long adventure
to see the world. He doesn't travel alone however, having somewhat accidentally found his new 'valet' Passepartout (which isn't his name but is what he blurts out as being his name when he spots policemen having found his passport I believe) (played by Jackie Chan), who he begs to let him come on this journey. The reason for this is because he happens to have stolen a valuable Jade Buddha from the Bank of England, though Fogg isn't made aware of this at the time and so Fogg and Passepartout is chased around the world by the English government. Of course there's a valid reason why Chan's character stole this Buddha, as often is the case in these type of movies he stars in, it turns out that the Buddha figurine had originally been stolen from his hometown in China and if it isn't returned to its rightful home, then it will face a bleak future. hence his reason to join Fogg, so he can return it when they reach China. The final member of the Fogg team, so to speak, is a French artist called Monique (Played by Cecile de France), who they find in Paris, who decides to join them for the adventure and to be inspired to paint more semi amateur impressionist paintings (they find her at an art exhibition, though she's no professional and is only employed for menial work).
This film features more of the usual Chan comedy martial arts scenes, it is pretty amusing in points and is generally quite diverting. It isn't action packed from start to end but enough goes on to keep you from checking your watch too much I felt, which is something I admit I can be guilty of sometimes! what I thought was a shame is the lack of realism, which I suppose is to be expected in this sort of film, since its really only intended as a light hearted family entertaining movie but the fact that the adventure starts off seemingly in real time mode but then they fast forward quite alot, through days and days (obviously I don't expect one movie to really show everything that goes on through all 80 days or it would be an extremely long movie but still!) at a time, where they show a glimpse of some of the areas they pass through (such as the Himalayas) and then shoot past it again, im sure whole continents were ignored and thats a shame. Going by memory, It seemed to me like the movie went from them being in China and then suddenly Fogg was in San Fransisco, thats quite a leap! One thing I liked in this film were the cameos and the actors involved. There are at least a couple of English actors with the lead role obviously played by Coogan, also Jim Broadbent stars as the somewhat corrupt Lord Kelvin, Ian McNeice as Colonel Kitchener and Kathy Bates as Queen Victoria (though she doesn't have much screen time at all, only a couple of minutes or so).
This movie is also noteable as having what I believe is one of the last acting parts by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has quite an amusing part playing a very vain prince in Turkey called Prince Hapi, who demands that Fogg and his companions join him and they accidentally end up breaking his beloved statue of himself, as he says 'no, not the statue of me, anything but that!' (or something similar) hohoho, that was somewhat amusing... also Rob Schneider shows up in the movie playing a homeless man in San Fransisco and of course the two Wilson brothers (Luke & Owen) also have cameos, playing, I believe for the first time on screen, brothers, as the Wright brothers, who share with Fogg plans for their invention which he later uses to build into the helicopter like contraption that you see on the front cover of the DVD. Over all I found this movie to be a bit cheesy and not completely accurate or overly realistic but that was of course to be expected. It has all the usual hallmarks of a good entertaining family movie and the usual stuff of Chan's comedy adventure movies too and it was diverting enough to keep me interested to watch it to the end. It is a little slow in some places but overall not too bad, the violence is all very comic and quite amusing in parts (ahem), its worth watching. This is yet another mildly amusing and fairly entertaining Jackie Chan action/adventure comedy, I think if he weren't in the movie then it would be alot duller, though Coogan I felt did well in portraying a rather vain and somewhat eccentric Victorian Englishman.
As long as you don't view this as being a particularly serious movie and a loyal movie equivalent to the original novel, then you shouldn't be too disappointed. I think this film has some funny moments and although its not a particularly mesmorising, marvel of a movie, it works well as a generally diverting, entertaining movie thats suitable for kids (its rated PG, though for some reason it says its 12 rated on Ciao, I checked with IMDB and there and on my DVD box it states its a PG rating rather than a 12 rate, there is very little to justify it being a 12 rate, I see this movie as being suitable for most slightly older kids (maybe 9/10+, something like that)). It was part funded/made by Disney I believe and it is like a Disney movie, very family friendly.
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by (4%):
18.03.2008 20:32
Great review
18.03.2008 20:32
Great review
25.10.2007 13:15
Great review there; I enjoyed this film too! Chris x