The Tuxedo (2002)

The Tuxedo (2002)

6/10

Starring

Jackie Chan

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Directed by Kevin Donovan

Not many Jackie Chan films have done the impossible of casting Chan out of character. This movie not only casted Chan out of character it also has Chan being supported by special effects.

Here is a movie that made little use of Chan’s martial arts skills to deliver a stunning performance, but instead tried to over play their had by add to that skill, effects and laughs.

Regardless I enjoyed the movie.

The story line of this movie is not one of the best, it was flaky and all muddled up. I feel the writer got carried away with the idea of scripting a spy movie with an actual martial arts expert. And so did the producers, who wanted to push the limit by adding to Chan’s ability unneeded special effects.

What I did enjoy in the movie is the comedy. The comedy comes at you when you least expect it and the action, was not bad when you consider that Chan not the suit was doing all the stunts.

The movie plot introduces us to a taxi driver Jimmy (Chan) who has made a name for himself for his stunt driving and speed, who was hired to be the driver of an international spy name Clark. Clark has been on a case for some time and he was about to crack it when he and Jimmy were attacked.

Clark was seriously injured and Jimmy was not. Jimmy took Clark to the hospital and made his way back to Clark’s home. It was at the home when Jimmy was going through Clark’s things that he sees the tuxedo, which is controlled by a watch. The tuxedo gives the wearer some extraordinary ability to do practically anything. Jimmy unknowingly tries on the tuxedo and watch, dressing as Clark just to see how it feels, as he has come to admire Clark’s fashion sense, discovers what the tuxedo does.

Blaine (Jennifer Love Hewitt) is a scientist who hopes one day to be a field agent was assigned to work with Clark, she never meeting Clark before mistakes Jimmy for Clark. This happened when Jimmy showed up for a meeting with her a meeting Clark was supposed to go.

From here the two, the wanna be field agent and the taxi driver begin to work on Clark’s case and must stop the bad guys before they poison the world.

The movie onscreen chemistry between Hewitt and Chan was not as enjoyable as I would have expected, but good enough for the laughs.

The movie is centered around the idea that the suit makes the man do magnificent things and not the man himself. Imagine James Bond being stepped up two notches, and has the ability to do martial arts like Bruce Lee.

Like I said, do not expect much when it comes to the story of this movie. That said, it is enjoyable.