MOVIE REVIEW: THE SPY NEXT DOOR

THE SPY NEXT DOOR (English / PG 13)

Genre: Comedy/Action/Family

Release Date: 15 January 2010

Distributor: LionsGate

Running Time: 88 mins.

Director: Brian Levant

Producers: Robert Simonds

Writer: Jonathan Bernstein, James Greer, Gregory Poirier

Casts: Jackie Chan, Magnus Scheving, Billy Ray Cyrus, George Lopez, Amber Valletta

Plot: "The Spy Next Door" stars Jackie Chan as Bob Ho, an undercover CIA superspy who decides to give up his career in espionage to settle down with his next-door neighbour and girlfriend, Gillian (Amber Valletta). But Bob has one more mission to complete before Gillian agrees to marry him: winning over her three opinionated kids. When Gillian suddenly has to leave town, Bob volunteers to babysit the children so he can earn their approval. But when one of the kids mistakenly downloads a top-secret formula from his computer, Bob's archenemy, a Russian terrorist, moves in for the attack, forcing Bob to juggle the roles of spy and prospective stepfather in the most challenging mission of his career.

THE VERDICT

This is outrageous and disappointing. Luckily, I have never put in any expectation when the Hollywood decided to put Jackie Chan in yet another movie that has gone out of his comfort zone. Jackie Chan has some impressive moment with Shinjuku Incident last year but now putting him into something else did no good at all. Here is why!

Mr Bob Ho (Jackie Chan) is a loan Chinese agent for the secret service CIA, decided to retire into a normal life to wed his girlfriend next door, Gillian (Amber Valletta) and to be a good father for her three children. While have to juggle the need to win over the heart of her three children, Bob will also need to face his archenemy, a Russian terrorist when one of the kids mistakenly downloads the terrorist's top-secret formula from his computer.

May I reinstate again, this kind of plot is no longer fresh. Borrowed and recycled exclusively from Vin Diesel's The Pacifier, the movie deals about an action star doubling his life as an agent or important figure to take care kids while juggling another problem on his other hand. Of course, the only twist in the movie like the others, a man that turned away his country. Basically there is no different than watching Vin Diesel's The Pacifier, or The Rock's Game Plan or even Ice Cube's Are We There Yet. The differences here are that Chan is an Asian and the movie never failed to impress us with his comedic-role and the stunts.

Recycled could be one hell of the problem that makes this movie not a brilliant stand-alone at all. Another problem is the movie lacks a proper script and followable plot. Script is not so funny and basically contains too much slapstick humour that does not serve much great deal after all. The plot is like a parody of Arnold Schwarzengger's True Lies, only to have a sloppy and sluggish dialog. Again, Jackie Chan seems to be struggling with the English but we love to watch him because of that, aren't we?

For the roles of acting, I think the only character that I felt amazing was the four-year-old Nora (played by Alina Foley). Nora is cute, peachy and witty. She is also the best character that can match up Bob Ho in the movie, partly due to her innocences and much affinity to Bob. The two other kids can be annoying at time but enjoyable, just like in The Pacifier. Jackie Chan is yet again predictable, portraying his bad English, typical action stunts and been comedic. Magnus Scheving's role as the Russian villain almost made me forgot that he is in fact an Icelandic. Magnus can really matched up with Jackie in terms of action and acrobatic skills. Read here and you will know why he is so good.

The Spy Next Door is just another form of dimension of The Pacifier. It is just been dumber and too slapstick compared to the latter and I find it hard to enjoy. Perhaps the comedy made my day a little or else, it is just another movie that is passable. Or if you are Jackie's fan, go ahead!!

THE RATING:

Story - 2.0 stars

Casts - 2.5 stars

Cinematography - 3.0 stars

Effects - 2.0 stars

OVERALL - 2.0 stars

GREEN-TEA-O-METER: 9.2

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