Hayden Kane
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
Mathilde the Guild
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Philippa
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
twickes32
When the film started playing, my expectations were as high as they get with seeing a Jackie Chan be the most neighborly man in history with helping out with taking out the trash.
But the moment he went into the Pen Distribution Center and BRC and George Lopez appear as spies, I knew this film was meant for me.The film portrays a retiring Jackie Chan in a victory lap of a film. Although viewed as a prime stuntman and action director in Asia, Jackie's image in the United States and modern film cannon has not been able to shake the image from the Rush Hour films.This metaimage parallels with his depiction in the film as suburban, sweater-wearing "geek" pen importer. An image which was more-so pushed onto the superstar image of Jackie Chan than imparted onto himself. And though it is important to recognize that the acceptance of this image from Chan is a large reason why he is even discussed in modern film and popular culture, it is also vital to recognize the platform which Jackie Chan has crafted by his own doing. A unique genre and character. "What you call boring, I call dependable." Words from the mother of the film echo fans of Chan's directorial work AND his modern films, seeing the incredible impact he has made in the film industry. His uniqueness was often observed as a shtick, incredible stunts which were only passed by Chan's physical age. As his career progressed, his stunt work was seen as more cheesy and expected.
The films character type asks for the audience to look further into the stories of those we expect the less from. We may anticipate that we understand those who we live around and grew up with. With Chan's work, we are as short-sighted as the children waiting in the mini-van, debating how Johnny is a drone or a cyborg. We cannot stay in the parked minivan, debating the identity of the people outside the car just looking at their outer image. We must dig deeper as an audience, and understand that the superstar career's such as Chan's are made by people just like us, no matter how indestructible Jackie Chan's stunts have made him seem to be.Timelessness is not only something which can be determined and understood at first viewing. Timelessness requires close inspection, and a relationship with those who are meant to be timeless. As an audience, we dig deeper, and prior to critique, understand the people behind the films.
Sarah Stallworth
My daughter was watching the movie and I noticed a scene where Jackie Chan was trying to dress the little girl on the floor as she struggled with him.At one point (while she was in her underwear) she is laying directly in front of him on her back and begins kicking him. While doing so, her legs are open and showing a bit more than I felt comfortable with. In a few seconds the camera zooms in and clearly shows between her legs much closer, showing the looseness of the underwear and it was extremely unnecessary.For this reason, I won't give this movie a 10. With the people who had to sign off on the movie before it went to theaters, etc... this should have been spotted and revised.
nonprofitgnome1
For the immense Jackie Chan fan that I am, I am disappointed with myself that I waited this long to see The Spy Next Door. Jackie brings a comedic vibe to all his movies that not many can emulate. I went in with fairly high hopes for this family comedy and wasn't let down.The plot is your basic "spy who can't let the people closest to him know who he is". With The Spy Next Door, you get a tad bit of a romantic comedy with a lot Jackie action mixed in. Yes, the plot has been done to death but it serves it's purpose and was executed well enough.The main reason we all sat down to watch the movie is because of Jackie Chan. The guy just seems to genuinely love to act. He is able to make you laugh one minute and then take out five bad guys the next. He is obviously toned down in this movie than some of his other more action oriented films but he still shows off his superior martial arts skills.Other than Jackie, the cast was alright, nothing to special. The kids did their job well enough to not detract from the movie. The one oddball casting that I really didn't enjoy was Billy Ray Cyrus. I'm not a hug Cyrus fan to begin with but even so he truly felt out of place here.Other than that small casting decision, I think this is an excellent family movie. With Jackie Chan's comedy and action there is a little bit of something for everyone to enjoy. It's definitely a better "family" movie than a lot of the other crap releasing in the past couple years. It truly brings me back to the days when I enjoyed family movies as much as any other genre (it has been quite some time).*For any Jackie fans out there, yes, the usual outtake real does come before this one just like all of his other movies and as allows its a must watch.
Bene Cumb
In this movie, Jackie Chan has decided to be nicer and more caring - and has somewhat succeeded as there are no dead bodies visible. However, its plot has several weaknesses, untrustworthy scenes as well as evil characters, above all. Thus, one shouldn't take this as a spy movie or thriller, but a family movie with gripping moments. Apparently, the filmmakers wanted to widen possible audience on account of minors.Jackie Chan and all the child actors give very fine performances, the rest (especially the evil ones) are too bizarre and clichéd - perhaps deliberately depicted so. And it is amazing that Chan still does not use stunts (and he was 54 during the filming); and here, those fighting and chasing scenes are just appropriate, neither dominating nor too lengthy as in some of Chan-movies. I can't see why this movie cannot be in the same category as Home Alone or Spy Kids. A pleasant entertainment!
