Wasabi

The goal of this film is to entertain. And it works. Leave your brain at the door and enjoy. The soundtrack is appropriate and good. Jean Reno is at the apex of coolness and Ryoko Hirosue is hip and refreshing. One could say the movie is some kind of techno-cop film that takes some aspects of the traditional French cop movies and push it to the limit during a crazy few days in Tokyo. Great to see the mega-city by the way. The movie is a cross between your typical James Bond and a modern Japanese action flick. Seen at home, in Toronto, on April 4th, 2006.

74/100 (**½)

This film is about a French man suddenly finding himself having a rebellious Japanese daughter.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film. The plot is fun and dynamic, it mixes humour, mystery and action all in a film. The soundtrack is great, the music is upbeat, which enhances the youthful and fun atmosphere of the film. Japanese culture is portrayed in the film. It is in fact quite comprehensive in its portrayal of tradition and culture. It shows traditional culture like food, Japanese architecture and ninjas. It also shows modern culture like the cute girls dyeing their hair brown or blonde, clubs, and various video game arcades. Ryoko Hirosue gives a fine performance as a teenage girl, and speaks convincing French. I really enjoyed this film, it is so funny!

WASABI (2001) is a variation on fish-out-of-water action comedies like the RUSH HOUR films, with a nod to more deadly serious Japan-set predecessors like the Michael Douglas starrer, BLACK RAIN (1989). Written by Luc Besson, it tells a tale of a French cop called to Tokyo for the reading of his old girlfriend's will only to learn that the girlfriend died under suspicious circumstances, that a cache of $200 million is involved, and that he's the father of the dead woman's daughter, of whom he's now the legal guardian until she turns 20 in two days. There is plenty of formulaic cartoonish action capitalizing on the no-nonsense cop's tendency to hit or shoot first and ask questions later, but it's balanced by some delightful interaction between Hubert, the gruff, if sentimental, middle-aged cop, played by Jean Reno, and Yumi, the terminally cute, endlessly trendy Japanese daughter, played by pop star/TV-film actress Ryoko Hirosue.

Some scenes manage to combine the action and father-daughter antics seamlessly, as in a department store shopping trip, where Yumi runs ecstatically from one section to the next while Reno quietly ferrets out and knocks unconscious each of nearly a dozen Yakuza thugs tailing them, all, miraculously, without attracting her attention. In a later scene, he has a French Intelligence comic relief sidekick (Michel Muller) show him cases of advanced weaponry while Yumi changes into her purchases in an adjacent room, bursting through the doors in a flamboyant display of each new outfit, while the two men scramble to hide the hardware from her view and tell her how great she looks.

The script is just as contrived and implausible as it would be in the hands of Hong Kong or Hollywood filmmakers, who've all done similar material, but it's handled with a light enough tone and given over sufficiently to the lead performers to make it a pleasant if undemanding experience. It's always a treat to see Reno in a starring role and he's quite believable and charming throughout in a patented movie star role that Bruce Willis might have played in Hollywood or Lau Ching Wan in Hong Kong. The lean and wiry Ryoko Hirosue (all arms, legs, nose, and chin) is `kawaii' to the nth degree--like a saltier, earthier Audrey Hepburn--and steals the film whenever she's on camera (which isn't often enough!). The character is quite volatile and given to wild mood swings punctuated by tears one minute and sly grins or girlish squeals the next. She's quite a fashion plate as well. The actress reportedly learned her French dialogue phonetically, but she handles it like a pro, as if she'd been speaking it much of her life.

As others have commented, this is certainly light entertainment, not heavy on elaborate plot lines. I actually saw this movie today on a flight from Japan, and found it delightful. It certainly is a film that was pitched to a French Audience, tossing in simplified bits of Japanese pop culture (Witness: I have never encountered so many Japanese that could speak French, as in this movie). Nevertheless this is what I liked about the movie:

1. The interplay between Fiorentino (Jean Reno) and his sidekick Momo (Michel Muller) was consistently humorous throughout, with Muller delivering the punchline, and nearly upstaging Reno throughout. My favorite scene is when Fiorentino is eating generous gobs of Wasabi (hence the name of the film), and Momo, not wanting to be outdone by his mentor, nearly gags to death on the stuff. I was laughing out loud -- maybe because it reminds me too vividly of the first time I ever ate sushi, and nearly died doing the same thing as Momo!!

2. Ryoko Hirosue, who plays Yumi, the previously unknown daughter to Fiorentini, is one of the current hot young faces in Japan, and has appeared in many TV dramas and movies. She certainly provides all the eye candy I could ever wish for in this film. But I must admit a certain new found-respect for her acting abilities, as she pulled off her lines in French flawlessly, while maintaining her trademark cuteness and capturing the carefree attitude of today's Japanese youth. She provided a foil of a different sort for Reno, her bright colors (pink hair, pink everything) offering a striking contrast to Reno's darker, demure look.

The Yakuza were portrayed as mindless goons in this film, and there are certainly better films out there if you want to know more about Yakuza, but it appeared that they played their role, which was to showcase Reno's machismo, in a humorous way, something along the lines of Jackie Chan films -- they are more like props in the film than anything else.

All in all, I was entertained by this film, which is all I was looking for during my 11 hours crossing the Pacific.

I am no Jean Reno fan, but I hired this one on DVD today and thoroughly enjoyed it. Although technically a French Film, it was mostly made in Japan and gives some insight into Japanese culture. The film provokes both tears and laughter in successive bouts. I didn't like the beginning with all its techno rubbish, but once that was out of the way and the story got going I really enjoyed myself. Reno was really quite amusing and the storyline, although nothing original, enables the spectator to enjoy him or herself. In addition, the Japanese actress was cute. Although the film cannot be considered a major work of art, it is sure to have international success as its theme is fairly universal and should be appreciated across a wide variety of cultures. There are many things which would make anyone laugh, whatever their culture or origin. There is little typically French about the film and indeed most of the action is in Tokyo. I can say fairely safely that all but the most cynical would get a great deal of fun out of this 90 minute stint. Bravo, and let's hope the film gets known worldwide !