Tuesday, 25 December 2012
Tuxedo movie excellent fighting scene
Jimmy Tong (Jackie Chan) is a taxi driver notorious for his speed and ability to get his customer anywhere in the least amount of time, usually without too many illegal methods. His reputation soon lands him a job as the personal chauffer of the mysterious but wealthy Clark Devlin.
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
Monday, 10 December 2012
the tuxedo cast and crew
Jackie Chan Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jason Isaacs
Debi Mazar
Peter Stormare
Romany Malco
Daniel Kash
Jody Racicot
Boyd Banks
Scott Wickware
Christian Potenza
Karen Glave
Directed by Kevin Donovan
The tuxedo review
Being James Bond or in this case Clark Devlin, is 90% clothing and 10% personal effort. But being a spy means dressing better than just any old Armani. In The Tuxedo we’re talking state of the art, high tech dinner wear with the power to make even a lowly cab driver an ass kicking super spy. When high paid master of intrigue Clark Devlin (Jason Isaacs) goes down, it’s up to his simple limo driver, Jimmy Tong (Jackie Chan) to put it on and kick in a one two punch for truth, justice, and the Jennifer Love Hewitt plunging neckline way.
I have been and remain a huge fan of Jackie Chan. His older work is a stunning display of the kind of things one can do with guts and style instead of the modern high tech mumbo jumbo. His newer films continue that tradition, while mixing in elements of humor to create movies of real innocence and charm.
Because it is Jackie himself that makes it all so doggone amusing, his natural likeability could make it easy to overlook the glaring flaws of The Tuxedo. Even In the murkiest of movie sludge, Jackie has a tendency to shine through like an unstoppable beacon of coolness.
But lets get one thing straight: The Tuxedo is utter crap. I don’t know who wrote it and I don’t care enough to find out. On the surface, its concept seems ripe for just the kind of fun loving, comedic action at which Jackie excels. Cast again in the role of a hapless idiot, Jackie ends up in what is basically a magic suit that gives him the abilities and the life of the suave, dangerous, and debonair. Somehow though, The Tuxedo botches it and goes to far. The high-tech tuxedo itself becomes more than just an excuse for Jackie to perform cool stunts and karate moves and turns his character into the high tech equivalent of an Asian Superman. Jackie doesn’t need wires tied to his ass to make him fly. He doesn’t need goofy matrixy trick photography to make him RULE. Jackie Chan is and should be used as a masterful stuntman who does things for REAL without any of this wholly outlandish mumbo jumbo.
Set Jackie Chan free. Let him do what he does. Give him the room he needs to use his amazing sense of comedic timing and cooler-than-god kick ass abilities to make your film a winner. Tuxedo director Kevin Donovan just doesn’t get it. So while from time to time our loveable character Jimmy, with some aid from the awkwardly used but supremely charming Del Blaine (Jennifer Love Hewitt) skirts around the clingy dung of this script, you can’t help but notice everything getting bogged down. There are lulls. Long lulls. Heck, except for the opening scene the first half of the movie is all one big lull. It’s only towards the end that things actually get interesting, as the plot is mostly thrown out the window giving both Chan and Jennifer Love a little room to breathe. That’s fortunate because with a hackneyed story lifted straight from a 1950’s cereal box, The Tuxedo is left with only the sheer talent of its cast to fall back on.
They pull it off. Just barely. The ending helps you forget the hour of boredom that came before, even if you don’t get much REAL Jackie Chan magic and are forced to watch him engage in the unholy arts of wire-on-my-ass-fu. Even bit parts, like that of uber-spy Clark Devlin are oddly well played almost in spite of being badly written. There are a few spaced out laughs thrown in and the usual Chan outtakes with the credits guarantee you leave smiling.
I really went looking to like this. Chan is a master of action-comedy, to which a film like The Tuxedo seemed ideally suited. But he can’t make it work if he isn’t given the chance to simply be himself. I walked out ambivalent and unmoved. The Tuxedo’s cast sells it well enough to keep it from utterly falling apart, yet its script and direction does little to actually recommend it. Perhaps the lesson here is to realize when your cast is more talented than you and let them lead the way when the material you’ve been given no longer can. Still, though Chan may be the only man in the world who doesn’t actually look all that dashing in a tux, there’s something just a little bit appealing about a karate kicking sharp-dressed man.
I have been and remain a huge fan of Jackie Chan. His older work is a stunning display of the kind of things one can do with guts and style instead of the modern high tech mumbo jumbo. His newer films continue that tradition, while mixing in elements of humor to create movies of real innocence and charm.
Because it is Jackie himself that makes it all so doggone amusing, his natural likeability could make it easy to overlook the glaring flaws of The Tuxedo. Even In the murkiest of movie sludge, Jackie has a tendency to shine through like an unstoppable beacon of coolness.
But lets get one thing straight: The Tuxedo is utter crap. I don’t know who wrote it and I don’t care enough to find out. On the surface, its concept seems ripe for just the kind of fun loving, comedic action at which Jackie excels. Cast again in the role of a hapless idiot, Jackie ends up in what is basically a magic suit that gives him the abilities and the life of the suave, dangerous, and debonair. Somehow though, The Tuxedo botches it and goes to far. The high-tech tuxedo itself becomes more than just an excuse for Jackie to perform cool stunts and karate moves and turns his character into the high tech equivalent of an Asian Superman. Jackie doesn’t need wires tied to his ass to make him fly. He doesn’t need goofy matrixy trick photography to make him RULE. Jackie Chan is and should be used as a masterful stuntman who does things for REAL without any of this wholly outlandish mumbo jumbo.
Set Jackie Chan free. Let him do what he does. Give him the room he needs to use his amazing sense of comedic timing and cooler-than-god kick ass abilities to make your film a winner. Tuxedo director Kevin Donovan just doesn’t get it. So while from time to time our loveable character Jimmy, with some aid from the awkwardly used but supremely charming Del Blaine (Jennifer Love Hewitt) skirts around the clingy dung of this script, you can’t help but notice everything getting bogged down. There are lulls. Long lulls. Heck, except for the opening scene the first half of the movie is all one big lull. It’s only towards the end that things actually get interesting, as the plot is mostly thrown out the window giving both Chan and Jennifer Love a little room to breathe. That’s fortunate because with a hackneyed story lifted straight from a 1950’s cereal box, The Tuxedo is left with only the sheer talent of its cast to fall back on.
They pull it off. Just barely. The ending helps you forget the hour of boredom that came before, even if you don’t get much REAL Jackie Chan magic and are forced to watch him engage in the unholy arts of wire-on-my-ass-fu. Even bit parts, like that of uber-spy Clark Devlin are oddly well played almost in spite of being badly written. There are a few spaced out laughs thrown in and the usual Chan outtakes with the credits guarantee you leave smiling.
I really went looking to like this. Chan is a master of action-comedy, to which a film like The Tuxedo seemed ideally suited. But he can’t make it work if he isn’t given the chance to simply be himself. I walked out ambivalent and unmoved. The Tuxedo’s cast sells it well enough to keep it from utterly falling apart, yet its script and direction does little to actually recommend it. Perhaps the lesson here is to realize when your cast is more talented than you and let them lead the way when the material you’ve been given no longer can. Still, though Chan may be the only man in the world who doesn’t actually look all that dashing in a tux, there’s something just a little bit appealing about a karate kicking sharp-dressed man.
The tuxedo overview
Jimmy does not really know what his new boss' job is, but Devlin's friendly nature, imperturbable demeanor, and willingness to offer Jimmy advice wins Jimmy over and the two become pals. Jimmy has no idea that Devlin is a spy and when an attempt to kill Devlin partially succeeds, sending Devlin into a coma, Jimmy ends up accidentally wearing a rather unusual tuxedo of Devlin's. The tuxedo is a gadget capable of granting its wearer special abilities (including martial arts, the ability to dance, active camouflage, and being able to walk on walls) which Jimmy must use to stop the terrorist group responsible for Devlin's hospitalization. He joins genius scientist, Del Blaine (Jennifer Love Hewitt) to stop them. At first, she thinks Jimmy is irritating, but in the end when he saves her and the world, he and Del Blaine go for a coffee together. Ultimately Jimmy gives up, but discovers that Clark had a tuxedo made for Jimmy himself as he believed Jimmy could be a great agent. Using his own tuxedo, Jimmy defeats the villains in the end.
Cabbie-turned-chauffeur Jimmy Tong (Jackie Chan) learns there is really only one rule when you work for playboy millionaire Clark Devlin (Jason Isaacs): Never touch Devlin's prized tuxedo. But when Devlin is temporarily put out of commission in an explosive "accident," Jimmy puts on the tux and soon discovers that this extraordinary suit may be more black belt than black tie. Suddenly thrust into a dangerous world of espionage, paired with a rookie partner (Jennifer Love Hewitt) as inexperienced as he is, Jimmy becomes an unwitting -- if impeccably dressed -- secret agent.
"The Tuxedo" is anything but the typical Jackie Chan movie. For the first time, Chan stars as a man who is, himself, completely inept at the kind of high-flying stunts that have set Chan's action films apart. Nevertheless, "The Tuxedo" does, in fact, showcase Chan doing the kind of moves that have delighted his fans for years, but here it could be said that it's a case of the clothes making the man.
Chan stars as Jimmy Tong, an ordinary cab driver, whose abilities behind the wheel of his taxi land him a job as a chauffeur for Clark Devlin, a wealthy industrialist, whose real industry is working for the CSA as a secret agent. Devlin is put out of commission, but not before ordering Jimmy to put on his prized tuxedo. Jimmy soon learns that this is no ordinary suit, but rather, a state-of-the-art, multi-million dollar tux, with features that allow the wearer to do everything from punch and kick to sing and dance -- features that can turn an ordinary cab driver into an extraordinary secret agent.
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