Around the World in 80 Days (2004) - 5/10
A British inventor, Chinese valet, and French artist attempt to travel around the world in 80 Days.
Jackie Chan stars as Lau Xing, who robs the Bank of England of an ancient Chinese artifact. While eluding authorities, he crosses paths with inventor Phineas Fogg (Steve Coogan), who is in need of a valet and someone to assist him with his experiments. Not wanting to be arrested, Lau Xing takes the job, giving the false name Passepartout. During a meeting at the Royal Academy of Science, Fogg is challenged by a colleague to travel around the world in 80 days. Lau Xing and Fogg set off on this adventure, picking up an aspiring French artist (Cecile de France) along the way.
Around the World in 80 Days was directed by Frank Coraci, and is based on the Jules Verne novel of the same name. The film is one of many adaptions of this novel, with the most famous adaptation being the 1956 film, which won 5 Oscars. This adaptation reworked elements of the plot to give the character Passepartout a bigger role, a decision Coraci made after casting Jackie Chan and the belief the novel didn't have a true main character. What happens when you add famous action star Jackie Chan to a Disney-backed adaptation of a classic novel?
The movie equivalent of oatmeal, apparently. Around the World in 80 Days, a film that should feel grand in scale based on its plot, comes off feeling extremely generic. The film doesn't bask in the beauty of all of the places our characters visit and doesn't even feel particularly line a journey at all. It comes off as more like a series of vignettes set to different backdrops, with each subplot fluctuating greatly in entertainment value.
Around the World in 80 Days is very heavy in comedic tone, but the humor is of the low hanging fruit variety - and is usually accompanied by music that sounds like someone slipped on a banana peel. Frankly, it comes off as more annoying than funny. The only part of the movie which I found humorous was a section featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger (in his final pre-political career role) as an Istanbul Prince. Arnold's wig and performance are so over the top that it's extremely entertaining, and honestly helped me refocus my attention on the film after a very dry first 45 minutes.
In addition to Arnold Schwarzenegger and like the 1956 film, this 2004 Around the World in 80 Days adaptation includes a
plethora of cameos, including Kathy Bates, Sammo Hung, Owen Wilson, and Daniel Wu. There are so many cameos it's arguably the most entertain part of the movie, as you never know who will turn up next.
Finally, as this is a Jackie Chan film, I must mentioned the action: it's nothing special. There's a moment here or there that are fun, but the film is light on action in general, and there are certainly no big stunts or grand fight sequences worth mentioning. The filmmakers were shooting for a family movie with sprinkles of Jackie Chan, rather than making his unique skills the focal point. This was definitely a mistake, as the film doesn't have enough plot, visuals, or comedy to give the audience a consistently entertaining product.
Overall, Around the World in 80 Days is a mediocre adaptation. The 1956 adaptation, though it won multiple Oscars, has a bit of a reputation as being one of the weaker Best Picture Winners. However, that reputation is much better than the one this 2004 film has, which is as the biggest independently release box office flop of all time. Made independently under the Disney group, Around the World in 80 Days had a budget of $110M, but only grossed $72M worldwide, including a meager $24M in the United States and Canada. It seemed Jackie Chan's star was fading a bit around this time (even this diehard fan didn't watch this movie when it came out), and following this film Jackie would return Hong Kong productions after a three year hiatus.
. We don't get too much anime talk on here, so maybe I just needed to let that out.
