With the great delay between the completion and release, the blink-and-you-missed-it trip through the theaters, and the generally poor reviews, this movie had the smell of disaster all over it. Fortunately, I have a weakness for both kung fu and the Victorian inventor genre (and how often am I going to see those combined?), so I was compelled to check it out.
This is by no means a great film, but it's an amusing and breezy two hours, and certainly one of Jackie Chan's best western movies, faint praise though that may be. For Hong Kong fans, it gives us Wong Fei-Hung, and the role is played by Sammo Hung, which is a nice little reunion. There's also a brief appearance by Maggie Q. As out-of-place as the martial arts action feels in a Jules Verne adaptation, it's good vintage Jackie choreography, and it's a lot of fun to watch.
Also fun to watch is Steve Coogan, though he's given little to wrap himself around. Cécile De France, in a role so far removed from Haute Tension that I utterly failed to recognize her, is adorable as the love interest, and Jackie Chan's comic skills are on good display much of the time. The cameos are a mixed bag. Arnold Schwarzenegger gets to spoof himself as a self-involved prince (though one wonders if he gets the joke). Luke and Owen Wilson are wasted as the Wright Brothers. Rob Schneider as an American hobo is just irritating, but that goes without saying. On the other hand, Mark Addy gets to say "You had me at the nipples", so that's got to be worth something.
The whole package is presented as a wholesome family picture, and it certainly seems to be. There's nothing terribly objectionable or troubling here, but not much all that interesting either, other than the visual style used for the traveling transitions, which I quite liked. It's harmless and fun; nothing I'd buy or rewatch, probably, but nothing I'd regret wasting two hours on either.
This is by no means a great film, but it's an amusing and breezy two hours, and certainly one of Jackie Chan's best western movies, faint praise though that may be. For Hong Kong fans, it gives us Wong Fei-Hung, and the role is played by Sammo Hung, which is a nice little reunion. There's also a brief appearance by Maggie Q. As out-of-place as the martial arts action feels in a Jules Verne adaptation, it's good vintage Jackie choreography, and it's a lot of fun to watch.
Also fun to watch is Steve Coogan, though he's given little to wrap himself around. Cécile De France, in a role so far removed from Haute Tension that I utterly failed to recognize her, is adorable as the love interest, and Jackie Chan's comic skills are on good display much of the time. The cameos are a mixed bag. Arnold Schwarzenegger gets to spoof himself as a self-involved prince (though one wonders if he gets the joke). Luke and Owen Wilson are wasted as the Wright Brothers. Rob Schneider as an American hobo is just irritating, but that goes without saying. On the other hand, Mark Addy gets to say "You had me at the nipples", so that's got to be worth something.
The whole package is presented as a wholesome family picture, and it certainly seems to be. There's nothing terribly objectionable or troubling here, but not much all that interesting either, other than the visual style used for the traveling transitions, which I quite liked. It's harmless and fun; nothing I'd buy or rewatch, probably, but nothing I'd regret wasting two hours on either.
