After two failed attempts to break
through in Hollywood, and a slew of steadily-declining returns for his Hong
Kong releases in America, who'd have had Chan and the highly-irritating DJ from
The Fifth Element, plus a no-name director, as a $150m pairing? Yet
that's what happened, even though what you get here is Chan Lite, even by
the non-challenging standards of his recent output. Only at odd moments
does he show the skill and courage for which he's famed; instead, this is
just a fish-out-of-water flick, albeit a fun and amusing one. Chan and
Tucker have a good rapport, taking the mickey out of themselves with
easy grace, and the director, sensibly, lets them get on with it. There's
absolutely nothing to stick in the mind, however -- this is truly
movie-making for the goldfish audience.
C
