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Around The World in 80 Days (2004)

Around The World in 80 Days
The Quest gets bogged down by yet another Ronald Reagan ceremony.

Starring:

Jackie Chan
Steve Coogan

Released By:

Disney

Released In:

2004

Rated:

PG

Reviewed By:

Adam Mast

Grade:

D+

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Around the World In 80 Days is based on the famed Jules Verne tale, and it is yet another perfect example of a remake that is far inferior to an earlier, much more accomplished version (Michael Anderson's splendid take on the story came out in 1956).

Steve Coogan is British inventor Phileas Fogg, a man who is shunned by the scientific community for his odd creations. In an attempt to prove his worth, Fogg makes the bold proclamation and a few wagers that he can travel around the entire globe within 80 days. If he fails, he will be forced to tear down his massive creation factory and will never be permitted to invent again. If he wins, the smarmy Jim Broadbent will be forced to resign his position as Minister of the Royal Academy of Science. Luckily, Fogg is not alone in his travels as he is be aided by Asian Lau Xing (Jackie Chan), a man on a mission of his own.

Around the World in 80 Days is incredibly clumsy. It's just choppy beyond description and the transitions from one continent to the next are hardly seamless. The changes in contrast are fine, almost welcome in many cases, but the way the film gets from one location to the other, are almost unbelievably amateurish for a Disney film. The movie is terribly disjointed and there appears to be chunks of the film missing.

Steve Coogan is terrific. He's naturally funny and offers up an outstanding sense of comic timing, but he is a far better actor than this picture deserves. Jackie Chan remains an amazing talent. He too possesses expert timing, and as is usually the case, his choreographed action sequences are breathtaking. It's too bad there aren't enough of them. And I don't mean this in a disrespectful manner, but sometimes it is difficult to understand what the hell Mr. Chan is saying. Even though this isn't Shakespeare, this factor doesn't help matters.

Around the World in 80 Days is large in scope but director Frank Coraci (The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy ) never really seems up to the challenge. It appears that he bit off a little more than he could chew - it's not such a Small World After All. What little does work in the picture, works as a result of Chan and Coogan busting their asses off.

There are a few amusing moments to speak of. The cameos are terrific. I thought I was going to crap myself when Arnold Schwarzenegger showed up. As expected, I found myself reciting his instantly quotable dialogue the minute I exited the theater. And that kick ass hair style of his has to be seen to be believed. There's also a fun little scene in which Luke and Owen Wilson play the Wright Brothers. There are plenty of other bit parts, but these are the most notable.

Around the World in 80 Days is only slightly better than what I was expecting following that dreadful trailer I saw for the film earlier this year. It's messy, convoluted, and surprisingly joyless - despite valiant efforts by stars Jackie Chan and Steve Coogan. Yet another classic that should have remained un-remade.

:: zBoneman.com Reader Comments ::

Bruce Broadstreet

Bruce Broadstreet

What a travesty. Why is it that Disney not only feels like it has to delve into it's archives for material, but they do such a piss-poor job of recreating them and also seem to feel the need to dumb them down. I was insulted - and nearly walked out.

Wally

Wally

Goodness - Joyless, cheap, choppy, stupid, and dull. What a worthless trip.

Dizz

Dizz

Phileas Fogg is a dreamer, who hopes that one day his inventions will take him to new heights. From motorized cars, to flying machines at the turn of the 19th century, Fogg is most definitely living in the future rather than the present. While members of the scientific gentlemens' club that Fogg wishes to head up to revolutionize England is most definitely living in the pass, feeling that all the discoveries in science have already been made. But when Fogg meats up with Passepartout, a Chinese thief who has just stolen a valuable jade Buddha from the bank of England, Fogg's life is about to change. Because Passepartout needs to find away to get back to China with the jade he encourages a bet when Fogg makes the claim he can travel around the world in 80 days. Shortly after leaving the suspicion that Fogg took the bet because he helped in the Robbery of the jade and needed an excuse to get away sets in. This sets the gentlemens' club against them as they now want to stop and arrest Fogg for the theft. So the eccentric London inventor and his traveling companion began their journey, using a variety of means of transportation, like boats, trains, balloons, elephants, etc. Along the way, Passepartout uses his amazing martial arts abilities to defend Fogg from the many dangers they face. Their path from London and back includes stops in Paris, Turkey, India, China and the United States of America.

Why does Disney feel that they need to dumb down every movie they ever do, did they not find out when they produce sophisticated humor and drama like in Pirates of the Caribbean people will flock to the theatres to see their movies. Less than a year later it does not seem that Disney learned that lesson as Around the World in 80 Days almost seems to thumb its noses at its audiences as it seems to be aimed for the intellect of a ten year old. It's insulting how little the producers at Disney think of their audiences so much so that they can't make a movie without it being overly cutesy and like licking a sugar cube. The original of this movie is so much better and they should have never tried to make a remake of the classic. Why can't they remake bad movies instead of insisting on butchering good ones? I did think Jackie Chan did put in one of his better performances in awhile, as they didn't saddle him with a gimmick to explain his martial arts skills like in the Medallion and the atrocity The Tuxedo. The movie does deliver the occasional laugh and is not a total waste, I just find it a shame that they seemed to put so little effort into making the movie rather trying to survive on clichés and sub plots that Disney movies always revert to when its obvious they have run out of ideas. The kids might like it, but for the most part plan to be dissatisfied as the movie is only mediocre at best, and marginally bad at its worst moments.

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