Martial Arts: Around the World in 80 Days (2004)

Around the World in 80 Days (2004)

Posted by Hementh On 10:28 AM

Around the World in 80 Days Movie Review

Around the World in 80 Days is a 2004 comedy/adventure film based on Jules Verne's novel of the same name. It stars Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan and Cécile de France. The film is set in 19th-century England and centers on Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan), here reimagined as an eccentric inventor and his efforts to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days. During the trip, he is accompanied by his Chinese valet, Passepartout (Jackie Chan). For comedic reasons, the film intentionally deviated wildly from the novel and included a number of anachronistic elements.

Despite boasting of several big stars and containing many celebrity cameos, the film was a box office bomb and ended up generating a huge loss for the studio.

The film starts with a man (later known to be Lau Xing played by Jackie Chan), robbing and escaping from the Bank of England. To escape from the police, he observes from a window, two police officers searching for him, asking an Oriental man in the street for his identification and says "Passport...too". He becomes, under the name "Passepartout" (pronounced Pass-par-too), a valet to Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan), a scientist trying to break the 50-mph speed barrier. After succeeding to do so and managing to avoid the police, they head to the Royal Academy of Science. Here, Fogg is insulted by other 'brilliant minds', in particular the bombastic William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (Jim Broadbent), who believes that everything worth discovering has already been discovered and there is no need for further progress. The bank robbery is also discussed. In his blind rage, Fogg says that he is glad the bank was robbed, because it is outdated and says that the thief could be in China in little over a month, which interests Lau Xing. Fogg places a bet to see if it would be possible, as his calculations said, to travel around the world in 80 days. If he won, he would become Minister of Science in Lord Kelvin's place; if not, he would tear down his lab and never invent anything again.

Passepartout and Phileas retreat to Phileas's home, where he mourns on his rash decision; yet Passepartout said, that to bet on something he believed in, made the bet in no way foolish. Without losing a moment, they take a carriage and leave London, after crossing with Inspector Fix (Ewen Bremner), a corrupt officer who was hired to stop them from travelling around the world.

They then travel to Paris, where Passepartout must evade minions sent by the murderous female soldier General Fang, out after what he stole: the Jade Buddha, which is a sign of good fortune. She had given the Buddha to Lord Kelvin, in exchange for military assistance in her enterprises to conquer Lau Xing's village. Pretending to take Phileas to a convention with Thomas Edison, Passepartout leads him instead to an Art School, where Phileas meets Monique (Cécile de France), a would-be impressionist. Realizing how busy his boss is, Passepartout fights the minions using every material available: canvas, brushes and buckets of paint, etc. Meanwhile, Phileas and Monique discuss Monique's paintings of 'impossible things', such as dogs playing poker. Moments later, Phileas sees a painting of a man with wings. To make a machine that could allow men to fly was always Phileas's dream; he therefore feels touched. All of a sudden, Passepartout returns and tells his boss that they are late. The two men, accompanied by Monique, depart in a hot-air balloon.

They then travel to Turkey, where they are greeted by Prince Hapi (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Here, they were entertained for some hours in a swimming pool. The Prince, having become infatuated with Monique, ordered her to stay as his seventh wife, (one for each day of the week), while the men were ordered to leave. The men leave, but blackmail Prince Hapi into releasing Monique, using a prized but apparently flimsy statue of the Prince as a bargaining counter. The statue is a parody of Rodin's The Thinker made to look like the Prince. The statue is ultimately destroyed, though the three travelers escape.

Lord Kelvin, hearing of all this and of the theft of the Jade Buddha, becomes angry; he is later contemptuous, when he learns that Fogg has been involuntarily abetting a thief's escape. Using this as an excuse to delay Phileas, he and his aides order the British colonial authorities in India to arrest both men.

In India, Passepartout sees notice of the price on his head and warns his companions. Disguised as local women, they evade the police, but are attacked by General Fang's agents. Using Inspector Fix and a sextant as weapons, Phileas and Passepartout defeat their assailants and flee to China.

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