R E V I E W :   The Accidental Spy  

Reviewed 4/17/01 | Background | Movie Review | DVD Review | Recommendation

Background 

Universe / 2001 / 108 minutes
Directed by Teddy Chan Tak-Sum
Written by Ivy Ho

We might call 1994's Drunken Master II "the great divide" for Jackie Chan fans. Many devotees feel the quality of his films (Rumble in the Bronx, Thunderbolt, Police Story IV: First Strike, Mr. Nice Guy, Who Am I?, Rush Hour, Gorgeous, Shanghai Noon) has greatly declined since that time, even as his North American popularity has soared and Asian audiences continue to flock to his films.

Chan has chosen to work with a variety of directors lately, including Gordon Chan, Sammo Hung, Benny Chan, Vincent Kuk, and now Teddy Chan, whose previous efforts include Downtown Torpedoes and Purple Storm.

The Accidental Spy played in Hong Kong cinemas for Chinese New Year, January 2001, and was the box office champion for the season, raking in HK $30 million.

Movie: plot, performances, production, rating

Plot: Like most spy movies, the plot is convoluted. Fitness equipment salesman Buck Yuen appears to be less than successful at his job. One day, though, as he is passing through a mall, his intuition tells him that a robbery is about to be committed; he decides to get involved and helps foil the crime. The ensuing publicity nets him the attention of private eye Many Liu. Liu tells Buck that a dying older man in Korea is looking for his long-lost son; Buck is an orphan and ends up having a deathbed conversation with the old man. Eventually he gets tied into some shaky business in Turkey involving spies and a more deadly strain of the poisonous anthrax.

Performances: Chan plays Buck Yuen as a blank slate; he's a middle-aged orphan with little apparent direction in life, no apparent friends or girlfriend, ready to head off overseas at the possibility of making money while not looking particularly greedy or impoverished. Eric Tsang as Many Loi is really just an extended cameo. Vivian Hsu makes her wafer-thin character (a pawn in the spy game, meant to entrap Buck) appealing. Kim Min Jeong plays a Korean reporter who exists mainly to explain what's happening to the befuddled Buck (and the audience); she's attractive but has doesn't have much to do besides reading pages of exposition (in English).

Production: Much of the film is set in Turkey, and various locales are used effectively. The action moves along briskly and is given good staging and interesting angles by director Teddy Chan Tak-Sum. Hard-core Chan fight fans will be disappointed because very little martial arts action is on display; the emphasis is on the stunts. One disappointment about the stunts themselves is that several scenes do not seem to flow naturally from the story or the surroundings; it's as though someone had a great idea for an action sequence and simply grafted it wherever it seemed to fit best. Granted, the stories for Chan's films are often created around the action set pieces that he dreams up, yet here a number of interesting ideas are introduced (such as the "intuition" of two of the characters, cultural interchanges between Koreans and Chinese) and then disappear without a trace. It seems that screenwriter Ivy Ho (Comrades, Almost a Love Story; Anna Magdalena; And I Hate You So; the story for Gorgeous) was brought in to write some dialogue but not craft a convincing plot. Chalk this one up in the "missed opportunities" category.

Rating: Category IIA. Some bloodshed, but not excessive or explicit. An extended scene with a naked Chan trying to elude bad guys in a Turkish market packed with people; far too many shots of his butt for my taste, but all done to comedic effect (and at least he's in good shape).

DVD: look, sound, subtitles, and features

Look: The letterboxed (1.85:1) presentation is sparkling. The colors are bright and vibrant, black levels are sufficiently deep, flesh tones look natural and varied, and the source print is extremely clean.

Sound: Both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 multi-lingual (Cantonese, Mandarin, English, French, Korean, Arabic) audio tracks are available; I listened to the DD 5.1 track and it was excellent. The surrounds were constantly engaged and the explosive soundtrack came alive.

Subtitles: The removable white English subtitles were easy to read and well timed, although the font was a bit large. Also available are traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles.

Features: Eight chapters can be selected from a two-screen menu. Stars' files are provided for Chan (in which it is noted that he does "most of his own stunts"), Vivian Hsu, and Eric Tsang. Trailers are provided for this film as well as Lavender and Hit Team. A "making of" feature is also included; it runs about 20 minutes and has some nice behind-the-scenes footage. Either Cantonese or Mandarin audio tracks can be selected for this feature, but only non-removable Chinese subtitles are provided.

Buy, rent, or pass?

Rent. Chan fans will buy it, non-Chan fans will avoid it; rating this as a rental will split the difference. It's not in the upper tier of his achievements (Project A, Police Story I and III, Drunken Master II), but more in line with his more recent films (although a step up from Gorgeous and his American films). If you don't care for his work subsequent to 1994, this won't change your mind and you do well to avoid the aggravation. The rest of us can watch and enjoy a pleasant entertainment.

 

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