Movie Review: Around the World in 80 Days

By Donna Schwartz Mills

• Studio: Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media, Balloon Productions
• MPAA Rating: PG (for action violence, some crude humor and mild language)
• Mom Rating: 3 out of 5
• Kid Rating: 4 out of 5
• Cast: Steve Coogan, Jackie Chan, Jim Broadbent, Robert Fyfe, Ian McNiece, David Ryall
• Writers: David Benullo, David Goldstein, David Titcher
• Director: Frank Coraci

Of all the cartoon shows my daughter watches on Saturday mornings, I think the most original is "Jackie Chan Adventures." Thanks to his animated series, my daughter and I are fans of Chan... which is the only way we could have been exposed to him. All of his previous movies have been inappropriate for young children.

Chan may have been thinking of his cartoon audience when he signed on as star and a producer of this remake of the film that was named "Best Picture" of 1956. But in casting him as the "French" valet Passepartout, the writers had to make a lot of adjustments to the story. For one thing, I'm pretty sure Jules Verne's 1873 novel did not include scenes where the characters engage in martial arts. I'm also fairly certain that Phileas Fogg and company were not being chased around the world by a gang led by a female (!) Chinese warlord.

Because of these accommodations to the unique talents of Jackie Chan, this movie is a little bit schizoid: part martial arts film, part old-fashioned (I mean, like from the 1950's!) comedy, part travelogue.

The story goes like this: Chan has stolen a valuable artifact from the Bank of England and while escaping from the police, he stumbles into the position of valet to a wealthy eccentric named Phileas Fogg (played by British comedian Steve Coogan). Fogg is an inventor who wagers with the stuffy head of the Academy of Science that he can travel around the world in just 80 days...  an amazing feat during the reign of Queen Victoria.

The movie truly is an international production: it was shot in the United Kingdom, Germany, Thailand, and the United States. And much of the fun comes with references to what was going on in the world during the era (i.e., encountering famous impressionistic painters in Paris and the unassembled Statue of Liberty in New York City).

The rest of the fun is in the cameos of stars like Kathy Bates, Owen and Luke Wilson, Arnold Schwarzenegger (his scenes were filmed before he entered the California governor's race), John Cleese and more.

While it is not likely that this remake will win any awards, it is not without merit. Again, my daughter was enthralled -- she found the physical comedy very funny and while the fight scenes were abundant, the violence was very cartoon-y... there's no gore and our heroes walk away almost unscathed.

I always hear parents complain that the studios do not make movies for families to see together. Here they have. If we want them to continue to make them, it's up to us to support them.

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