Leofwine_draca My goodness! Even the dependable Jackie Chan is now reduced to making dumb and brainless Hollywood blockbusters these days, which really is saying something for the current state of the ailing action genre. Let us hope that the sequels and superheroes in store for 2003 set the balance right again. Until then, the only cool thing about seeing THE TUXEDO at the cinema was the BULLETPROOF MONK trailer put on beforehand. Jackie's latest film is a woefully bad spin on the James Bond-influenced spy genre, complete with a nicely smooth performance from Jason Isaacs as a top-secret British agent.Sadly, the film quickly falls apart, both due to the introduction of the sexy but vacuous Jennifer Love Hewitt (the most unfeasible female scientist since Denise Richards in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH) and the idiotic storyline, about a guy dehydrating the world's water supply to sell his own mineral water. Yes, you heard that correctly and I'm not making it up. The bad guy's plan is so contrived, so ridiculous, so stupid, so irrelevant that I felt physically bad for Jackie in this film. The climax of the film, which should be exciting, is just a mish-mash of poor plot exposition, dumb ideas, and far too much footage of Miss Hewitt, who thinks she can get away with going around and insulting Jackie for most of the film. Lady, have some respect for a guy who was nearly breaking his neck on a daily basis before you were born.The worst thing about THE TUXEDO is the reliance on wire work and CGI-enhanced stunts and fight sequences, which are a bit of a betrayal seeing as Jackie has always prided himself on doing all his own stunts. The film sees Jackie involved in lots of American-style humour which doesn't work too well (his Chinese brand of slapstick is a lot better), and in fact the only time I laughed was the fight scene he has with his trousers down (very amusing). Actually the fights in the film are a big disappointment and sorely lacking in the excitement stakes. Apart from the final "battle of the suits" there isn't really much in the way of kung fu action. Instead, expect long stretches of dumbness and boredom.Jackie has never been a great actor but he's by far the best thing this film has to offer despite the lack of martial arts. Jennifer Love Hewitt is gorgeous, yes, but she's there only as a sexy female sidekick and her acting skills are zilch. The cameraman seems more interested in her cleavage than actually watching her speak. Jason Isaacs is fantastic but spends the entire film in a coma, while the lead villain played by Ritchie Coaster is pathetic and not imposing at all. They even waste Peter Stormare in a dumb scientist role which is something. Only James Brown comes out of the film with anything in the way of a reputation intact. With two new films lined up, I'm hoping that this is a mere blip in Jackie's career and he'll prove his worth in future efforts.

ebiros2 I like this movie now more than when I first saw it.The movie is really a mixture of Hong Kong style action with Hollywood style production. And it has Jackie Chan style humor that goes with it.When this movie was made Jennifer Hewitt was still a relative unknown, and it seemed odd that she was Jackie Chan's sidekick. She kind of lacked the softness or sexiness of a woman at the time, and didn't soften the touch of the team. But now she's well known, and it's much easier to pick out her signature style of being the "Brain".It's amazing to see Jackie Chan mimicking the move that's supposedly the work of the "Tuxedo". Human Jackie Chan is making the tuxedo look like it's making the human Jackie Chan move like super human.Maybe teaming Jennifer Hewitt with Jackie Chan was bit experimental at the time, but after a decade, I can see how beautifully this movie is made, and how interesting the action is with Jackie and Jennifer as a team.

I_John_Barrymore_I Strangely, it's the moments before and after the eponymous tuxedo appears where the film is most successful. The first act is hugely enjoyable in fact; consistently laugh-out-loud funny. Jason Isaacs makes a strong impression as the Bond-like secret agent who employs Jackie Chan as his driver. In fact, he bears a strong resemblance to how Ian Fleming imagined Bond in the novels and seeing him in such a role makes you wonder if he wouldn't have been a good choice for the role after Pierce Brosnan left.But I digress. Once Chan slips on Isaacs' super-tux things get very silly, but not in a good way. It seems to be aimed squarely at the younger crowd, yet there is a nasty level of detail in a couple of horror moments that are probably unsuitable for young kiddies.The special effects are poor but not too distracting, the performances are about right for the target audience but adults may find them grating. Jennifer Love Hewitt does the best work, throwing herself into her role with aplomb, even if at times it appears she's trying too hard. Her chemistry with Chan is adequate - again, you have to bear in mind this is a kid's film - although Chan lacks his usual charm.In short it's not as dreadful as you may have heard. Kids won't think it's the best film they've ever seen, but will probably enjoy it even if they find the plot challenging, but that's about all it has going for it.

Angelus2 Jackie Chan is a cab driver who meets a spy, who gets hurt and now Jackie must replace him and take on the role of the spy by wearing his tuxedo. A tuxedo that gives him superpowers....The concept is cheesy and does not work, its not something you would associate with Jackie Chan although the fight scenes are still amazing the arrival of Jennifer Love Hewitt wrecks the film, she isn't funny and doesn't suit Jackie Chan. I understand that Jackie wanted to try something different but this just doesn't work....I found the film to be predictable especially with 'James Brown' although the singing scene was very funny and kept me entertained...Ovcerall not the greatest Jackie Chan movie.