Review of Tuxedo, The

Introduction

Another Hollywood Jackie Chan film and another disappointment. Nothing has come close to the kinetic pace of Mr Chan`s Hong Kong action films. Then you could argue that these films are a step away from what he normally does in an attempt to try making more mainstream action comedies. If you want to see martial arts, don`t see this film.

The Tuxedo has a simple enough premise for a story. Ordinary cab driver James Tong becomes extraordinary when he dons the Tuxedo, which is an experimental suit with incredible powers. Right then, we have a super weapon, let`s create a global domination conspiracy that has to be stopped and put in actors Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Video

Presented with a 1.85:1 anamorphic video transfer, the quality isn`t as good as expected. There`s certainly a bit more grain on show than that of a recent feature film. Colours and contrast look good and detail is okay. There weren`t any signs of compression or other problems. The transfer could have been a little sharper though.

Audio

We lose the American DTS soundtrack in favour of just DD5.1 sound. What is here sounds loud and dynamic and has a lot of force from the front stage though sadly not a lot of rear sound action. There`s some ambient sound but nothing that I`d expect from an action film. There are plenty of opportunities for a good immersive soundtrack but this film doesn`t bother.

Features

Easy to navigate menus with a handful of extras:

• The Making of The Tuxedo (13:03) - The usual PR fare with a few interesting titbits such as JLH training with wires and learning how to kick. I`d love to see more of this, but alas this isn`t a documentary.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:21) - A long and unimpressive spoiler driven trailer.

• The Cutting Room Floor (subtitled) - Deleted Scenes (9), Extended Scenes (3) and Outtakes (7:25). All anamorphically enhanced but hardly worth the effort. The deleted scenes are of varying quality, likewise the extended scenes. The outtakes are just that, several scenes where Jackie and Jennifer can`t keep straight faces and ruin each take. There are outtakes in the end credits too.

There`s the usual slew of subtitles including English. The Tuxedo is packaged in a standard DVD keep case.

Conclusion

The front cover quotes Jonathan Ross, "Hilarious high-jinks and superb fight scenes". Where was this Mr Ross? I`ve seen the film twice and I`ve yet to stumble upon either. There will be a few Jackie Chan fans that aren`t going to be particularly pleased by the film and after seeing the film once no one will likely bother with it again. The Tuxedo is like most average Hollywood fare churned out and not worth seeing if you expect to see a typical Chan Chinese action film. It`s plain, a little dull, highly predictable and offers rarely any entertainment whatsoever. The gags and comic side may appeal to both young audiences and those that just like silly films as there`s lots of silliness.

The script itself about a world domineering megalomaniac with a water conspiracy isn`t the most intriguing or exciting of stories. Even with this new billion-dollar tuxedo helping our zero becoming a hero, it lacks style and fun. This is just a Hollywood film shoe horning in Mr Chan. Cynical?

Cast wise, this has another average performance from Jennifer Love Hewitt. Mind you, the script is average at best and doesn`t require much in terms of range. Don`t get me wrong, I like JLH, but she just hasn`t made a good film yet. As for Jackie Chan, all I can do is shake my head and wonder why he`s bothering with American film at all. He does perform some entertaining stunts here, but it`s nothing like what we might expect from his Chinese films. Despite the film being average, I still like Jackie and would continue to see his film if only just to see him do something better than average for a change.

The only reason I wanted to see this film was because of Jennifer Love Hewitt because I knew it wouldn`t be a good Chan movie. Rent it to satisfy your curiosity but leave your expectations at the door as you go in.