The Accidental Spy
|
List Price: Our Price: $1.96 You Save: $8.03 (80%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.90 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of The Accidental Spy
Movie Review: Sad fan
Summary: 4 Stars
I am sad. I have seen TAS (the Hong Kong version) and it fully deserves the four stars. Great plot, very tense, exciting with some great drama as well. Wonderful unusual but exciting music, very Turkish in tone, with the closing song by HK singer Jacky Cheung. I highly recommend the HK version. But this one ... I think the US have done it again. It is 86 minutes, the HK version is about 108, so they have chopped it! The music? I don't dare imagine! Why is opium involved? The whole object of the story is the struggle by Jackie to get the "Anthrax II" away from the baddies and rescue the girl! Why do they keep chopping and changing Jackie's movies? It's a shame as a four star movie will probably be reduced to a 2 star.Movie Review: not too exciting
Summary: 3 Stars
While Accidental Spy did a decent job of keeping me engaged, I think it was mostly the fact that the movie is slightly under an hour and half. The plot was not too bad, but what lacked throughout the movie was a really good stunt or two by Chan, and no good fight scenes that match up to his quality in other films. Don't get me wrong, there are some beautiful scenes and it will entertain, but I expected even more. This is one of Chan's later movies, and his age might be catching up, but all in all I hoped for bigger and better.
Like I said, the movie was engaging for the most part, and overall everything is decent, but thats all it is - no high excitement from maybe but a very few scenes. The best was in the middle of the movie, a good foot chase scene, where Chan is being chased by a gang of men through public streets, and Chan manages to loose his bathtowel, thus fighting off goons while finding random objects to keep himself "covered up". Its good, funny action. The finale of the movie is really nothing more than Chan saving a couple from their gas tanker that is on fire, nothing to do with the bad guys, they are done for before this scene. Its pretty cool scene but limits Chan's stunts and action abilites, except for his jump from the tanker in the end which is pretty cool.
The dubbing, fortunately, isn't too bad and Jackie Chan dubs his own voice which I think works so much better. Most of the charcaters in the film are pretty bland, no one is memorable. Most of the film takes place in Istanbul, so if you have seen very little of Turkey you get to see quite a bit of its capital in the film.
Accidental Spy is an ok movie, something to have only to complete your Chan collection and if you desire something you haven't seen before. I would find this difficult to want to watch over and over unlike other films such as Legend of Drunken Master or Who Am I.
Movie Review: The only thing funnier than the movie is the cover!
Summary: 3 Stars
I found this to be a very engrossing Chan film - despite the typically [weak] plot and the evident butchering by Miramax, still the heart of the film shines through, and we have a suprisingly emotional film. And what's this? An actual tear elicited in the film's final third? You'll see what I mean - and one of the most beautiful of the Chan films as well, referring to the Cinematography. All this plus the top notch fight scenes make this a definite must-have for the Chan collector (if you can live with the idea that this is in no way the ORIGINAL film).
But what I REALLY want to mention is the Cover to the DVD. I have to admit I am some kind of a [fool] to have fallen for it. Go on, take a look at it real quick and let's dissect this. We have: 1) Jet Fighters - but the film has no jet fighters in it! 2) A paratrooper - but the film has no paratrooper! Wait, it gets better - we have 3) A hot brunette and an even hotter blonde with a very sexy "shhh, don't tell anyone how sexy I am" pose going on - yes boys, I really looked forward to getting home with this one because of the blonde - but guess what! NO BLONDE! Neither hot chick is in the film!
But best of all, my all around favorite. We have 4) A black man in shades holding up a gun with a big grin on his face. No, he's not in the film either. But, what I love is how obvious the distributors are being here. What black actor do you suppose they hope the stupid masses will think this man is? What black actor who was recently in two hit blockbuster films with Jackie by the name of Rush Hour? Could it be . . . CHRIS TUCKER! Of course, it's not even him on the cover, much less in the film.
Anyway, don't let the bogus cover throw you, it's still a good flick! Not as good as Who Am I? But worth a buy . . .
Movie Review: enh.
Summary: 3 Stars
There are two things you need to do before sitting down to watch this movie; walk over to you kitchen and make yourself a big bowl of popcorn, and then walk over to a closet, grab a hanger and suspend your disbelief for an hour and a half. Jackie Chan doesn't disappoint as 'the accidental spy', his charm, creativity, and unmatched skill make for a pleasant combination. However, the plot makes leaps and bounds across the realm of logic (this is where the popcorn comes in as a tasty from of distraction). The storyline is (predictably) a bit goofy, and a bit off, but Chan's physical artistry makes up for it all.
This is not a spectacular film, it could have certainly used more of the funniness of the market chase scene in Istanbul (hilarious!) and less of the gunfire and blood, but it is entertaining nonetheless. Stangly enough, this movie is so much fun because of its two-dimensional nature. My major complaint is that the DVD doesn't have any extras or goodies; more outtakes from filming would have been great. The bloopers at the end are funnier than the movie itself. The dubbing is a bit dodgy, but I don't know if subtitles would have suited the pace of this movie any better.
Movie Review: Good, but not great.
Summary: 3 Stars
I like this film fine, and I can't truly find any fault with it. It's just seems to fall well short of Chan's usual work. That's kind of unfair, considering that most his other films are terrific, and this one is only good. But in the end, I have a hard time recommending it.
The action sequences are well executed, but lacking Chan's usual flair. The end bit about a tanker truck on fire and Chan having to rescue the driver and his family is just silly. How long can that truck stay on fire without exploding? I never care for the big stunt endings. I'd rather have enjoyed a creative martial arts showdown.
Not terrible, but not great either. Better than "The Prisoner" and "My Lucky Stars", two of Chan's very rare bad films. But still falls just a bit short.