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Around the World in 80 Days
Release Date: July 9th 2004
Distributor: Entertainment
Certificate: PG
Starring: Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan,
Cécile de France, Jim Broadbent, Kathy Bates, Arnold Schwarzenegger,
John Cleese
Director: Frank
Coraci
Running Time:
90
mins
Based
on the classic novel by Jules Verne, ‘Around the World in 80 Days’
is an action packed and loose adaptation from Disney™ that allows
for plenty of drama and is studded with cameo appearances. (Arnold Schwarzenegger
in a long-haired wig! Say no more).
The
film stars Jackie Chan as Passepartout, a Chinese thief who has stolen
a valuable jade Buddha. Meanwhile, Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan), an eccentric,
but well connected, London inventor and adventurer is dreaming up bigger
and wilder ideas for inventions. He is dead set on being the first to
make a flying-machine, but at his gentlemen’s club (remember this
is 1872), although well respected he is considered somewhat of a crackpot.
When he proposes that he can traverse around the globe in such a timescale
he is laughed at and challenged by Lord Kelvin (Jim Broadbent) to put
his money where his mouth is.
Passepartout
is looking for a speedy exit; Fogg is looking for a traveling companion.
Put the two together and the combination is an unlikely but dynamic and
entertaining partnership, who set off intrepidly for action and adventure,
accompanied by femme fatale Monique (Cécile de France). With an array
of imaginative inventions at their disposal (think recent release ‘The
Time Machine’ (2002)) the trio is set for a high-octane ride.
But
all is not as it seems. A conspiracy to thwart their journey is afoot,
placing our heroes in a number of tight scrapes. Lots of opportunity for
Chan to flex his martial arts muscle then! As if that wasn’t enough,
Fogg is being pursued by a detective who suspects him of robbing a bank
just before leaving London.
Ok so we are straying further and further from the point of the original
story, but for action and fun packed drama, viewers are in for a treat.
Coogan, of course, is always a pleasure to watch and strikes a surprisingly
handsome and dashing figure with his long hair and sideburns! Just remember:
you can go directly home from the cinema, you don’t have to travel
via Paris, Turkey, India, China, the USA….
