L'Expert de Hong Kong

Latest Jackie Chan film is a wildly overly long (well over 2 hours) comedy action film about a trio of safe crackers who use the loot to fuel their addictions. When things take a turn for the worst the trio kidnaps a baby, the same one that they had saved earlier in the film. When one of the trio is hurt and thrown in jail after the getaway, the remaining two, Jackie Chan and Louis Koo must care for the kid. Of course they bond with the kid and of course circumstance provides for some death defying action sequences.

I really didn't care for this film. Sure its nice to see Jackie playing a semi-not so nice guy, but on the whole this is the sort of thing we've seen a dozen or so times before, and I'm not talking action. For me much of the film was past formulaic and into the cliché rut. How many films have their been about grown men with no baby experience taking care of infants? How many of them have gags stolen by this film? As for the action sequences they take a bit of a back seat to the comedy and the baby. Sure there are some nice bits, Jackie walking down the air conditioners and the car chase/crash are good little sequences but they too ring of things that have gone before. It could be argued that Jackie is getting up there, he's 52, but its not that what he's doing is bad its just that its a bit lifeless and repetitive when compared to his earlier films.

It also doesn't help that the film is paced so,leisurely that we feel every one of its 130 plus minutes. This is a movie in need of some real trimming.

A miss. Wait for cable.

4.5 out of 10, 5 out of 10 for IMDb purposes

just saw the rating of 6.7 and thought it was a little bit high, but i would rate this a solid 6. this is one of Jackies better movies in a while and he tries to go back to his roots, like his movies from the 80's and early 90's.

i enjoyed his old movies cause they were silly and the action was fantastic and crazy and also full of cameos by famous actors and actresses from hong kong. this movie has all that except for the fisticuffs which are a little lacking in this movie and weak in my opinion compared to his prime.

the movie was a little bit sappy in my opinion also, but the baby was really really cute. the story involves Jackie who plays a lowlife gambler who is shunned by his family and his two partners. Louis Koo plays partner #1, who is a handsome womanizer who is actually married and partner #2 is none other then Michael Hui, the eldest of the Hui brothers. it has been a while since i saw him in a movie, and he plays the leader of the 3 man ring.

they somehow get roped into kidnapping a baby and the shenanigans and hi-jinx start from there. along the way there is mobsters, triad debt collectors and of course the police, including yuen baio who plays a police detective who has known Jackie's character for a long time.

for some reason the fighting doesn't appeal to me anymore, there were enough fight scenes but they are nothing compared to the old days. there were plenty of stunts in the movie and one incredible jaw-dropping stunt by Jackie about a 1/3 of the way thru the movie. you have to see how he gets away from the debt collectors while on top of a 10 story building and he really did the stunt himself. INCREDIBLE!

another reason to watch his movies back in the day was for the cameos and this one doesn't disappoint. check out Daniel Wu and Nicky tse as 2 homosexual and inept armor truck guards, it was hilarious. besides that one there were at least 5 other cameos by famous hong kong personalities.

all in all, a very high class production, you could tell a lot of money went into the making of this movie. not one of his greats but a very good watch, makes you long for the good old days though.

I did not enjoy the previous effort of a Benny Chan directed Jackie Chan film in "New Police Story" that I was definitely worried about a "Three Men and a Baby" inspired effort. The result was mixed, but going in with low expectations I was pleasantly surprised. "Rob-B-Hood" (US release name is a bizarre name change to "Robin-B-Hood" though in this movie there is no stealing from the rich to give to the poor; neither title is very good) is the third film in the collaboration between Benny Chan and Jackie Chan and Benny's first attempt at a comedic action film. While this film was successful in Asia it was not theatrically released in North America and most of Europe.

Jackie Chan and Louis Koo Tin-Lok star as mediocre bad guys Thongs and Octopus. Jackie Chan tired of stereotypical nice guy roles wanted to play a criminal, though his character Thongs is a burglar and compulsive gambler, the "good guy" nature of his character comes through quite clearly and his performance does not veer far from most of Jackie's previous personae. This role is a good step in broadening his experience as an actor. Octopus is a married womanizer who works with Thongs. He married very young to Pak Yin (the terminally cute Charlene Choi) and is doing his best to woo wealthy young women while avoiding his wife. Thongs and Octopus both work under the guidance of the Landlord (Michael Hui) a conservative criminal who hoards his theft while the other two spend their "earnings".

The Landlord has had his loot stolen by another criminal (he suspects everyone after this) so he allows himself to get contracted to a nefarious case to kidnap a baby for seven million dollars and give the infant to the possible grandfather to test if the baby is his sons (the son is dead and currently frozen in a very expensive decorated freezer). Thongs and Octopus both need the money so they acquiesce and help the Landlord with the felony. Of course, Thongs and Octopus, through a partially botched kidnapping attempt, are forced to take care of the cute defecating infant until they can reestablish getting the kid to who hired them. And, of course, they get attached to the baby (I cannot believe the baby got nominated for Hong Kong Film Award's Best New Performer category).

Some of the negatives of this film include the ill-defined female characters (it seems they would have been better characterization in the original three-hour workprint, but that meant a whole lot more exposition); especially Gao Yuan-Yuan's Melody character who I had trouble figuring out what her relationship with Thongs was the first time I watched this. Some of the baby poop jokes were overdone as well as some of the infant's scenes in general (reportedly the child was an infant terrible on the set; delaying shooting and helping push the film over budget). There is only so much you can do with a babbling, spitting, crying child with flatulence. Yuen Biao's Inspector Steve Mok character is definitely underused (as well as Michael Hui), though at least he gets more than a cameo in this film. And then there is the horrible overuse of Pepsi advertising including one scene where Jackie slides down a pole revealing the largest Pepsi graffiti I have ever seen.

I did end up liking this film though. There is a certain congenial innocence with the lead characters that works well in this comedic action hybrid. In most Jackie Chan movies there are little stunts that sometimes seem as throwaways but are quite dangerous and are done with Keatonesque ease. In this movie Jackie slides down a staircase column and props himself up with ease at the end. If he fell on the wrong side he could have been seriously injured, but since it is so effortlessly it seems so simple. Jackie Chan has used more wires in his stunts and it definitely shows in this film, but I do not fault him for it, since his body cannot handle the punishment like it used to. The stunt where he jumps from air conditioner to air conditioner to the bottom of the street is impressive (even if a wire was used) and his and Louis Koo's stunts in the amusement park owned by the grandfather (location was Ocean Park) were quite good. In fact Jackie was said to be impressed of Koo who was willing to do many of his own stunts in the movie.

There could have been more fighting in this movie but there is a good scene in the apartment of Jackie between Jackie, Yuen Biao, Ken Lo and more. It is inspired by a similar scene in Project A (this is also mentioned in the Benny Chan commentary), but still pleasant. While there are many faults in this film and I think that many action purists will not like this film, I found much that was enjoyable from the comedy to the action and stunts. Now please Jackie no more movies with babies.

"Robin-B-Hood" is one of the better recent Jackie Chan movies I have seen. Why? Well, obviously because of the trademark Jackie Chan action sequences, but also because of the story in the movie.

Jackie Chan (playing Fong Ka Ho) and Louis Koo (playing Octopus) are two professional burglars that live extravagant lives that require a lot of spending money, and get hired for job that promises million of Hong Kong dollars, though Michael Hui (playing Landlord) fails to inform his burglar associates that the job is to kidnap a baby. Fong Ka Ho and Octopus get attached to the baby, and then things start to escalate to a wild thrill-ride.

Jackie Chan puts on a great performance in this movie, as expected, and he is doing all of his trademark action and stunts, lots of action and comedy here. And he is well accompanied by Louis Koo who also puts on a good performance. I am a huge fan of Asian cinema and used to live in Hong Kong so I am no strangers to the Hong Kong cinema, and I must say that Charlene Choi (playing Pak Yin), despite her small role, actually put on one of her best performances ever. It is nice to see that she is finally growing into a good actor and is over that sugar-coated silly comedy that she made when she was younger.

The story in the movie have several aspects and depths and all work out quite nicely coming together full circle at the end. "Robin-B-Hood", despite the somewhat stupid title, is a really great action and family movie. Very suitable for fans of Jackie Chan or people in for an evening with the family. And I must underline that "Robin-B-Hood" is a MUST for all Jackie Chan fans. Sure he is getting older, but the man is still performing amazing stunts and spreading his good humor.

I was thoroughly entertained from the start of the movie until the very end. And I purchased the 2-disc Ultimate Edition from Amazon, and will definitely be giving the extra materials on disc 2 a go later on today.

I first wanted to say its not nearly as bad as some of the other idiots who reviewed this film said it was. This movie does have some scenes that miss the mark and weren't really needed, but all in all I was satisfied. After watching New Police Story I needed to see Jackie in a film that's more fun, and Rob-B-Hood certainly delivers! Even though this movie's main element isn'the fighting there are some really nice fight sequences, the best of which is towards the end (as always!). The entire finale takes place in an amusement park over rides, ATVs, and speeding roller coasters! I felt that some of the danger the baby was put in was unnecessary but definitely gave Jackie chances to use death defying stunts. If you can get over the fact that the obviously fake baby is visible from time to time you will enjoy this. TWO THUMBS UP!

I also thought I should add that this film ended up outgrossing X-Men: the Last Stand AND Mission Impossible III at the 2006 Chinese box office!