Waste of time

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The classic Jules Verne story receives a new approach, in which Jackie Chan plays a big role. Instead of focusing on the actual story and the main characters, it all resumes on endless Kung Fu fights, Jackie style.I find this idea really inappropriate, not to say stupid. It's all a big parody, where absolutely nothing is taken seriously and every single scene ends up with a fight. The characters' scripts are idiotic, the course of events is stupid and the whole movie seems like cheap comedy. Too bad that great actors (including Coogan, Schwarzenegger, Wilson and so on) wasted their talent and time for this movie. To see the good part, it had some good landscapes, some great-looking computer generated transitions and some funny moments, but all of them pale in comparison with its downsides. A bad movie in my opinion, good time wasted...

The sole reason for me watching this movie was, without any secret, because of Jackie Chan. And as a big fan of his, then I tend to watch just about anything of his that I come across. However, true to most Western productions that he stars in, then the movie hardly reaches up to the knees of the Asian productions that he has been in. That being said, don't get me wrong. I am not saying that "Around the World in 80 Days" is a bad movie, far from it. It is an enjoyable adventure for sure, it is just suffering from being a forced Western production.The story in "Around the World in 80 Days" is about Phileas Fogg (played by Steve Coogan) who undertakes a wager to travel around the entire world in 80 days with the help of Passepartout / Lau Xing (played by Jackie Chan) a hired help that literally falls into the lap of Mr. Fogg. And the trek around the globe is full of adventure, excitement but also with danger.As with most Jackie Chan movies, then there is a good amount of action and comedy in "Around the World in 80 Days", complete with the trademark style of slapstick action comedy that Jackie Chan is known and loved for.But it is also visually a good movie, very pleasing to the eyes.However, the thorn in my side, is that this is a Western production, and Jackie Chan does seem somewhat like a fish out of water in such movies. But still, it is a fun movie to watch and a fair enough addition to the collection if you are a fan of Jackie Chan.It was a nice treat to have Karen Mok show up in this movie, with her usual charms, spot on performance and on-screen charisma."Around the World in 80 Days" is a movie that is worthwhile sitting down to watch as a family or if you are a big fan of Jackie Chan.I am rating it a sound six out of ten stars.

Bottom Line:Was the Movie worth watching? - KindaWould I watch it again within a month? - Definitely NotWould I watch it again within a year? - NOWould I watch it again within 3 years? - NOHow family friendly was it on a scale of 1-10? - *9*I can't say that much for this movie. Once you've seen the 1956 version, the 2004 remake seems unworthy of the Title. I won't say that I didn't enjoy the movie because that wouldn't be true. I just think that it was a very poor remake.The '56 version followed the book closer, which is important to me. Also, the comedy in the original version was funny, compared to the comedy in the remake which was silly.Overall I will most likely never watch this movie again. If I want to watch Around the World in Eighty Days, I will definitely watch the 1956 version.

Around the World is remade once more with more of a comedy take than before. Jackie Chan is more the focus as the valet but here a man from China trying to return a stolen Buddha.Steve Coogan is a wacky inventor and would be adventurer, Phileas Fogg, who takes up a challenge to voyage around the world from Jim Broadbent.Chan is chased by both police and Chinese assassins and uses Fogg to get back to China. This allows Chan to use his slapstick acrobatics and comedy kung fu.Coogan is the more erudite one, intelligent almost an Henry Higgins type. Emotionally repressed as we see when a young French painter (Monique) joins them and be the eventual romantic interest for Coogan.The film has a host of star cameo appearances such as John Cleese, Richard Branson, The Wilson brothers and Arnie the Governor.The film is charming enough with broad laughs and slapstick. Its disposable fun but also easily forgettable.