Review of Around The World In 80 Days

Introduction

This was one of those films that passed me by, and apparently plenty of other people too when it was released in cinemas earlier this year. It didn`t help that it was a remake of the 1956 Best Picture Oscar winner of the same name, starring David Niven as Phileas Fogg. Like all remakes it would be scrutinised with extra care to ensure that it wouldn`t sully the memory of the original. I suppose that there also may have been some fallout from Arnold Schwarzenegger`s gubernatorial ambitions, which coincided with the making of this film. But perhaps the most damning indictment would have been the less than stellar reviews, which persuaded me to spend my time in another part of the multiplex. Still, in its favour it does star Jackie Chan, tempting me to take a look now that it`s out on DVD.

Jules Verne was one of the great speculative fiction writers of the 19th century, dreaming of technological futures and exciting developments in humanity, many of which came to pass. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, From The Earth To The Moon and of course Around The World In Eighty Days, foretold fantastical means of travel and societal developments fifty years or more before they came to pass. They also served as inspiration for many films, including one of the earliest silent movies. Around The World was perhaps the most compelling for Victorian audiences, as it didn`t so much as speculate as it did inform them of how small the world had actually become at that time. It was also popular because of its colourful travelogue. This was an aspect that carried on through to the David Niven film version as well. The 1956 version of Around The World In Eighty Days, came just as the age of the jet-setter was dawning, a three hour travelogue, as David Niven`s Phileas Fogg with trusty valet Passepartout played by Cantinflas in tow, stiff upper lipped his way around some of the sights and sounds of the world`s more exotic climes, rescuing Indian damsel in distress Shirley MacClaine alone the way.

Today, when the other side of the world is barely an Internet connection away, when whole television channels are devoted to selling holidays to far off places, the need to see how the other half lives is greatly diminished. The 2004 version of Around The World re-imagines the characters, creates a back-story and plays it distinctly for laughs. It also spends less time looking at the scenery and focuses on the action, courtesy of a minor plot point from the original book that makes it centre stage for this version.

The Bank of England is robbed and a priceless Jade Buddha is stolen. The culprit, Lau Xing attempts to evade the police and takes shelter by taking advantage of a recent opening in the household of inventor Phileas Fogg. Fogg`s valet has just quit in the face of another madcap life threatening invention, and by passing himself off as a Frenchman, Lau Xing or Passepartout soon finds that risking his life in a steam powered contraption is preferable to feeling the long arm of the law. The Jade Buddha had been stolen from his village by the Black Scorpion gang, who wish to trade it for British military might from Lord Kelvin. Lord Kelvin is incidentally the chair of the Royal Academy of Science who constantly ridicules Fogg and derides his vision of progress. Passepartout has to return the Jade Buddha to his village in China so he takes the opportunity, during a war of words between Fogg and Kelvin to manoeuvre the conversation towards a wager, and soon the ill prepared Fogg is off on a journey to circumnavigate the world with trusty valet Passepartout in tow. Their first stop in Paris shows how dangerous their journey will be, when they find the Black Scorpion gang lying in wait. They also pick up aspiring artist Monique La Roche who decides to tag along against Fogg`s wishes. Meanwhile Kelvin, in order to win the wager has sent corrupt Police Inspector Fix to foil Fogg`s chances.

Video

The 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer is amazing. It`s clear and sharp, and reproduces the lush, vivid colours of the various locations flawlessly. I did try to look for problems, but even the fine lines of Victorian fashions, the narrow stripes and bright colours failed to evince even a hint of moiré to my eyes. The film begins in a worrying way with a burst of CGI, and I had a small sinking feeling, expecting another computer generated plastic picture. Far from it in fact, as most of the live action is just that, live. The CGI has been put to splendid use as segues between scenes and locations. In the vein of Indiana Jones` animated maps, we now have wonderful 3D animations that take us from location to location and they really add a touch of magic to the proceedings.

Audio

The sound comes in the form of a DD 5.1 English track only. It`s a perfectly competent surround track, with plenty going on for your speakers to take note of, courtesy of the Jackie Chan action scenes, as well as a couple of explosive Phileas Fogg contraptions. The music isn`t particularly memorable, but it strikes just the right note of wonder and adventure, with a few overtones of the Victorian as well as the adventure movies of yore that inspired the remake.

Features

As befitting a recent film, the extras while generous tend to the lightweight and PR friendly, with contributors still in a self-congratulatory mood. The animated menus are very pleasant to look at, continuing the motif of flight with a journey through the clouds.

Discovering "Around The World" is 19 minutes long and presented in 4:3. The ingredients are some behind the scenes footage, plenty of clips and seasoned with interviews with the cast and crew.

Around The World Of Jackie Chan, almost 7 minutes of Jackie`s contribution to the film with behind the scenes footage of the fight sequences as well as how he choreographed the scenes. There is an interview with the man too. Incidentally, the behind the scenes stuff shows Jackie using wire-fu for a couple of scenes. I was shocked. I guess everyone gets old eventually. He`s beginning to look like a hyper-athletic twenty-year-old.

There are eight deleted scenes on this disc, running around 8 minutes in total again presented in 4:3 letterbox. Some scenes are better off out, but you can watch them individually or with a play all option, and with an optional commentary from the director. He also playfully introduces them too.

David A. Stewart sang the song that`s played over the end credits. It`s also here in a 3-minute video that is very Monty Pythonesque. I feel it`s better placed over the end credits myself.

The Alternative Chicken Reel, presented in anamorphic is the director`s preferred opening to the film, and features Phileas Fogg`s dream of human flight, as well as a talking CGI chicken, prior to the bank robbery. The sequence plays 13 minutes and leads up to Fogg`s confrontation with Kelvin. I thought the chicken was quite ridiculous, and I feel it`s better kept separate in the extras.

Finally there is an audio commentary from the director Frank Coraci and actor Steve Coogan. It should be noted that it starts around 40 seconds before the film itself, and the black screen is no reason for concern. It appears that the director assumed that his chicken had been lovingly restored to its rightful place in the opening credits. However we get the theatrical version instead. The commentary is presented in DD 2.0 Surround, and it`s pretty good. There are some nice nuggets of information about the film, and both Coogan and Coraci are entertaining speakers. There are more than a few irrelevancies though, and I found myself drifting.

None of the extras have subtitles.

Conclusion

This is where I tell everyone how bad this film is and agree vociferously with the critics who cut it to shreds on first release. I would do that, were it not that I enjoyed it so much the first time I saw it, that I watched it again the next day just to make sure that it was the same film that had critics reaching for their poison pens. Around The World In 80 Days is thoroughly enjoyable, light-hearted fun that doesn`t require any thought or effort on the part of the viewer. I suppose I must admit that the first film was never one of my favourites, 3 hours of stiff upper-lipped monotony broken only by the dubious talents of Cantinflas. That Around The World came from another time, another sensibility that seemed to be still exporting the glories of Empire while said Empire was busy declaring independence left, right and centre. That Phileas Fogg was imperturbable, unflappable, condescending, patronising and deathly boring.

The 2004 remake is a breath of fresh air in comparison; the main character`s re-invention into madcap inventor who is out of his depth the minute he leaves these shores makes for a far more interesting protagonist. There is more to the story than a simple travelogue, and the plot has been tightened up considerably to move the film along. At two hours this is still a lengthy film, but the time flew by without me noticing it. In the vein of the first film, there are plenty of cameos to keep an eye out for, and I won`t spoil it by revealing the names here (IMDB can always satisfy your curiosity). It`s common knowledge though, that this was Arnold Schwarzenegger`s last role before he took up political office. Here he plays a spoilt Turkish prince who takes a shine to Fogg`s travelling companion.

There are problems with the film certainly, and depending on your expectations can prove to be disappointing. I feel after watching this that Steve Coogan can`t carry a film. His Phileas Fogg is an entertaining enough character, full of eccentricities and quirks, but he lacks the charisma to fill the screen, indeed this is another Jackie Chan vehicle, where he takes top billing playing Passepartout and understandably so. His brand of comedy is always entertaining, even when Hollywood can only think of teaming him up with a Western actor. There are some great fight sequences in the film, and I loved the tips of the hat to films like Young Master and First Strike. The fight scene in the artists` studio is also a delight. Belgian actress Cécile De France plays Fogg`s love interest Monique, and she is also a delight to watch, creating a sparky sassy character.

The problems still persist though, most noticeably with the sense of humour. The remake of Around The World In 80 Days is billed as a family movie, which in this case means playing to the youngest of the audience. While the kung-fu aspects of the film are untouched, the characters plaguing Fogg are written deliberately as childlike buffoonish oafs. Kelvin in particular, as played by Jim Broadbent can only appeal to the youngest denomination as he sneers and blusters his way through the part. However in terms of sheer buffoonery he`s totally outclassed by Ewen Bremner`s Inspector Fix, sporting an absolutely ridiculous comedy accent, woefully clumsy, and victim of every pratfall that the director can devise. On occasions the humour can fall flat, quite literally so as one elderly lady pursuing a stolen handbag so painfully demonstrates in one scene. By and large, Around The World works best as a live action cartoon, filled with larger than life characters and ridiculous situations.

Around The World In 80 Days is hardly the travesty of celluloid that it has been made out to be. It`s no classic either, but it is 2 hours of entertainment that will appeal to all ages. This may be blasphemy, but I find it wholly preferable to the original.