In 1956 producer Mike Todd set a new precedent in lavish blockbusters with his adaptation of Jules Verne Around the World in 80 Days. A colourful romp filled with spectacle, fun, wall to wall cameos, and the one of a kind actor David Niven as Phileas Fogg. Someone thought it would be a good idea to do a remake of it, and someone else thought it would be a great vehicle for Jackie Chan, sound good on paper doesn't it, travel the world with Jackie and watch him kick the crap out of people from different countries.

In this version Jackie inveigles himself into the home of Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan) home after stealing a Jade Buddha statuette from the Bank of England. In his effort to get the statue home he tricks Fogg and his Science Academy peers into a bet that Fogg cannot circumnavigate the world in eighty days. From then on we follow the guys antics as they plod from country to country Jim Broadbent is on hand as the villain in a painfully over the top performance that almost has you covering your ears and eyes.

Around the World in 80 Days is an unfortunate mess, it plods along in a hopeless fashion, and only ever comes to life when Jackie Chan is doing his thing. Coogan one of the great contemporary television comedy actors tries his best in the role of Phileas Fogg but he lacks the panache and affectionate snobbishness of David Niven. Added to this is the problem of Chan and Coogan as a team, they lack the dynamic that Chan had when he worked with the likes of Owen Wilson and Chris Tucker. In the end it is left up to Jackie to keep the entertainment at a reasonable level but even Jackie's fight scenes lack the pizzazz that they have had in the past.

Paul Farren