User reviews

Apparently there are two versions of "The Accidental Spy" in circulation, the most commonly found cut one (which runs about 90 minutes) and the harder to find long one (which runs about 110 minutes). This certainly offers a reasonable explanation as to why the plot of this movie in its cut form seems so disjointed. But it does not fully explain why it is so dull. The tone swings wildly from light spy comedy to serious spy drama - the movie never seems sure of itself. The fighting is unremarkable if you've seen any of Jackie's previous outings, and some of the action scenes have a "been there, done that" feel to them. The climactic "Speed"-like sequence of a tanker that must not slow down or it will explode is spectacular, but has nothing to do with the main plot. On the bright side, there is at least one amazing stunt (Jackie jumping from the roof of a building to the road below using three umbrellas as parachutes!), there is a nice international flavor (the locations include Hong Kong, Seoul and Istanbul), there are two pretty Chinese women, and of course there is always Jackie. (**)

Jackie Chan's greatest weakness in his movies is predictability: you know the good triumphs over evil, the good guys are easy to identify, Jackie drop-kicks some butt, and he takes time to save kids and babies (not to mention babes, who sometimes save him). You know that if he gets the girl, he doesn't get very far (PG all the way).

In his best movies, this is his greatest strength, too: against the repeated backdrop of white and black hats, you're never quite sure how he's going to manage to clutch victory from the jaws of defeat. You know he's going to get cornered by 6 black hats with 18 weapons in some storage room...and somehow use whatever's stored there to do away with the evil-doers.

Unfortunately, in the Accidental Spy, we're not kept guessing very long. The fight scenes are overly predictable (and, too often, the victim of a punch will start rolling their head back before they're punched). The plot is as unimportant to the Jackie Chan machine as usual, but, unlike other movies of his, the characters aren't memorable. The love-interest is lovely, but not interesting. The spy-who-coulda-have-loved-Jackie is relegated to making plot-digressing phone calls ("did you order a helicopter?").

And it's too bad, because there's otherwise some good material here: drug kingpins and orphans, lost parents, competing spy agencies, and beautiful locations (especially those Istanbul and other parts of Turkey). It's too bad that his escape from a Turkish bathhouse is wasted in this movie (you try to confront a half-dozen apes with only your bath towel to save you...and then not even the towel).

The dubbing doesn't help. Instead of offering the film in its original Chinese with subtitles (easily possible in this digital age), we're stuck with dubbing that sucks away what little life remains in these two-dimensional characters.

I really like Chan's movies, but he could have phoned his performance in for this one. Chan, unfortunately, is missing from his own movie.

As a vehicle for Jackie Chan action sequences, this movie is decent. There are some clever scenes, and while some, particularly one in which a naked Jackie tries to cover himself while his enemies seem determined to keep them off, make no sense, they are amusing.

Unfortunately, the story is an absolute mess. None of it makes any real sense and it's often unclear what on earth is going on. The movie just jumps from scene to scene with little thought for the sense of it all.

The movie also ends, not with a typical Chan action scene, but with a highway scene that uses none of Chan's talents, is confused and lacks any sort of excitement or suspense. It is a huge misstep in a film full of small missteps.

If one of the earlier reviewers is correct, then the Dimension release (which I saw) must have butchered a passable original, for I can't imagine Chan being in anything this poor. The Accidental Spy was beautifully photographed with some excellent fight and car-chase sequences, but whomever redid the dialogue for the English-language market had little idea of plot or continuity. The sound quality was additionally horrid, making the film even harder to follow.

Hopefully one of these days I'll get to see the Chinese original. In this form, The Accidental Spy fares very poorly in comparison with Police Story or Drunken Master II.

A worker in an athletic equipment store (Jackie Chan) saves the day when a robbery is going down. With a bit of fame, he attracts the attention of a dying Korean man who believes the hero is his long lost son. But, after traveling to Korea to meet with his supposed father, Jackie learns he may have a large bank account in Istanbul and his dad may have been involved in drug trafficking, too. Even as Jackie jets off to Turkey and fills a suitcase with his new bank-vault fortune, various groups of bad guys are out to get him. One of them dangles a beautiful young lady as bait for a trap. Will Jackie fall for it? Also, is the CIA involved in some respect? This is a fairly exciting movie which sports Jackie's patented and imaginative martial arts talent. Watching him get away from his pursuers by squirting shampoo in their eyes, among other things, is fun, no doubt about that. There is also a great scene in an open market where a disrobed Chan covers his vitals with tambourines and other handy items. Chuckle, chuckle. This dubbed film from the Hong Kong filmmakers also offers an excellent visual tour of Istanbul and its surroundings, something very rare and attractive. Jackie's castmates are well chosen, also, with two beautiful women gracing the screen for the viewers' vast enjoyment. If you love Chan movies, don't miss this one. Although it may not be his best work, it still has plenty of humor and action to keep the audience watching until the credits start to roll.

This is one of Chan's Hong Kong-movies, and it seems to lack much of the basics that makes his better movies, well, better. When it comes to the fighting scenes, they aren't that bad. They are typical Chan-fighting scenes which involves many items in special ways. They are also funny, and especially one of them lasts long. Apart from that, there are nothing good in this movie. The story is nearly non-existing. This comes as no surprise, especially when we know that the story got changed from the Chinese to the English version. I really have to warn people from watching this movie only based on the film's cover. Here's why: There's a black man on the cover. Where the heck was he in the movie? I didn't see the blonde girl on the cover in the movie either. And military airplanes? If you haven't guessed it already: There are no such planes in the movie. If the movie had been any good, I guess they wouldn't have to make a halfway fake cover like they have.

One thing I specifically did like about this movie was the locations. I haven't seen that many movies that play in Istanbul for a large part and it was a welcome change from the usual New York, Hong Kong, etc.

There were a lot of 'mandatory sights' shots, of course, with a scene in the subterranian canals, a drive-by at the Aya Sofia, Turkish dancers, etc.

What was a bit of a lesser point about the movie was it's native Chinese and the 'clunky' voice-overs. If the movie was meant for a western (American?) audience as well, keep it in the native language and use subtitles. As far as we know, Americans still know how to read. At least the Europeans still do... And personally I find a movie that much more enjoyable when it's in the native language.

On the whole, easy entertainment, good for a relaxed evening, but no heavy storyline or character-development. Don't expect a drama which can be discussed afterwards (unless perhaps discussing the merits of wallowing naked through assorted spices).

Teddy Chen is one of those directors that (for me) just never really 'nails it', delivering a range of films that are entertaining, yet far from perfect. Before this, he had directed action films, Downtown Torpedoes and The Purple Storm - both of which had their moments, but just never wowed me. The Accidental Spy joins those films, opening with a brutal massacre in Turkey before introducing Jackie's character (as a gym-equipment sales assistant) in a light-hearted, comedic fashion...

I've often championed Hong Kong films for their unique blend of genres, and love how they flip from one style to another, but with this, it just doesn't work!

After a fun action packed opening, with Jackie thwarting a bank robbery which leads to a fun fight in an elevator then onto a fantastic stunt on top of a huge crane - the film almost instantly goes dark. The great Eric Tsang makes a connection with Jackie (who is now hailed a hero) that directs him to Korea and the possibility of finding his real father. Once in Korea however, the film starts looking more like a thriller with a cold blue filter, very dark shots, and some serious drama.

The fight scene in the hospital and (random) car chase that follow seem slightly odd when the typical Jackie-style humour creeps in. In hindsight, going into production Golden Harvest should have really decided that The Accidental Spy be either more like Jackie's fantastic dark thriller, The Foreigner - or a Stanley Tong directed globe-trotting adventure, like many of the films they have made together...

It isn't long before the cat-and-mouse chase of finding more clues in his adventure takes Jackie to Turkey, allowing for more exotic locations and inventive action scenes, losing the bleak look of the Korean winter setting. As the mystery and the clues continue, we thankfully get treated to quite a few more fight scenes as a Turkish group of terrorists set out to take Jackie hostage and find 'the thing' - that thing that every bad guy wants, but nobody knows what they are asking for except 'that thing'!

That thing of course, is a new form of Anthrax which Jackie just happens to suddenly have in his possession.

As mentioned, there is definitely no shortage of fight action once in Turkey. From the fun skirmish with the taxi drivers to the fight in the Turkish bathhouse and marketplace, where a naked Jackie must use everything in his sight to keep his bits out of view - all while throwing a punch and kick whenever he can. This fight is definitely once of the films more 'Jackie Chan' moments, and one of its few highlights...

But once again, this is something I find annoys me with The Accidental Spy! Right after this funny and inventive scene, we get thrust back into Teddy's dark world of terrorism and espionage as Jackie then gets taken hostage by the same Turkish fighters and is soon fighting is way out in a bloodied gun fight and intense getaway.

Its like a big budgeted Godfrey Ho movie at times!

And I don't mean that its terrible - I just mean, it can get messy. Even the fights at times seem lazy (although not all disappointing). The last 'slappy-hands' fight with Brad Allen in the back of a convertible is hardly anything as wonderful as their fights in Gorgeous, but this leads to the films big finale - which is another highlight of The Accidental Spy. Having crashed the convertible into the back of an oil tanker, Jackie must rescue the family from the now burning truck - all while keeping it moving so the flames don't race up the vehicle causing an explosion...

Its a pretty big stunt and well executed that (finally) brings a bit of excitement to the film, at the same time, trading in the one thing we all look forward to at the end of a Jackie Chan movie - the final fight scene! And I thought it was only Stanley Tong that did that..! Instead, we get to see Jackie in one of his finest stunts - swinging from some construction netting after leaping from the burning truck on a bridge before hitting the dirt. Impressive yes, but definitely not enough to make The Accidental Spy a memorable, Jackie Chan classic.

Just to note though - avoid the US cut and dubbed version if you can, and keep watching (the HK version) after the fun out-takes during the credits (with a theme song by Jackie Chan and Jacky Cheung) for a post-credit scene that shows Jackie continuing his role as a spy that should've led to a sequel, but didn't...

Overall: It definitely has its moments, but The Accidental Spy is far from perfect!

"Buck Yuen" (Jackie Chan) is an employee of a small exercise equipment shop in Hong Kong. One day he happens to see some suspicious people nearby and follows them. When they attempt to rob a jewelry store he springs into action and this gets his picture in the news. Then, as luck would have it, this attracts a private investigator to discern if he is possibly the heir to a client of his who just happens to be involved in drugs and espionage. Now rather than reveal any more of this rather complicated plot I will just say that, as usual with movies involving Jackie Chan, this film had more than its fair share of martial arts action. It also had some pretty good comedy too. Unfortunately, as I stated earlier, the plot was somewhat complex and the movie itself seemed heavily edited which certainly didn't help the overall cohesiveness of the film. Additionally, the sound quality wasn't very good either. In short, although this was an enjoyable movie for the most part it definitely had some flaws and for that reason I rate it as only average.

Chinese actor Jackie Chan proved to be the best actor,and stunt-man in "The Accidental Spy "in its English dubbed version. There had been a combination of action,thrill,and comedy in this film where Jackie portrays a man who discovers that his father was an agent and he finds himself involved with a Chinese drug Mafia. Also,Jackie never hesitates to add more suspense,and humor in "The Accidental Spy",including the Turkish bath scene,and the burning truck which makes him a star with unique qualities superior to other actors. Finally,this film with its wonderful cast,and director Teddy Chan deserves 10 stars.

Except for one glaring error, I think Dimension Films did an excellent job in recutting/redubbing The Accidental Spy for the American Market. They didn't cut any major action sequences, the editing in general was better in the US version, and the actors who did the dubbing in the US version were 500% better than the ones who spoke English in the original (especially the woman who played Carmen--she had a gorgeous face, but her English was less convincing than Jackie's and she was a horrible actress to boot). Also, the new English dialog is MUCH better in Dimension's version, easily beating out the original's English dialoge as well as the subtitle translations of it's Cantonese and Turkish dialoge.

For instance, in an early scene where shop-clerk Jackie is demonstrating exercise equipment to a middle aged man and his hot young wife, the man becomes indignant over that attention Chan pays to his trophy spouse. In the original version, the translation of his complaint about Chan to the shop manager is "Is he a circus clown?" In the US version, he says, "Is he hitting on my wife?" which makes MUCH more sense (to americans anyway).

Of course, the most unusual thing about this re-edit is that Dimension gave the film an entirely different story! The original was about the chase for an ultra-lethal, weaponized pathogen called Anthrax II. Spy was set to come out right in the middle of our nation's big Anthrax scare, however, so that was out. In Dimension's remake, everyone is chasing after vials of a prototype drug 100 times more addictive than heroin. I say "six of one, half a dozen of the other." The chase is the important part in a Jackie Chan movie, not what everyone's running after. In fact, the drug plot works much better in many ways.

The only thing they messed up was the very end of the film--a common problem for Dimension (see the awkward end of the US version of Legend of Drunken Master). Spy's original ending was both bittersweet and comic. The US version's chopped up ending is just jarringly abrupt and the explanation of the plot is even more nonsensical than the HK version (oddly enough, the "simple" US-version explanation is more unbelievable than the convoluted version in the original.).

The Accidental Spy is Chan's best HK film in years--great cinematography, slick set design, great action! A class act, as these things go.

I never understood professional critics of Jacky Chan's movies. I really think it should be ignored. Instead it should be relied on his fans like myself. I just can't understand the relatively high critics for his 'New Police Story' comparing to this one. Accidental Spy is a good refreshment after his American movies like 'Rush Hour' and 'Shanghai Noon', which are fine by themselves but quite low by Jackie's standards. They lack the little stupid things that make Jackie Chan's movie funny, and they surely lack his amazing stunts.

Accidental Spy is a very funny film, having a lot of Jackie's nonsense in it. The pace is good and the stunts are incredible. Bringing us back to his Asian movies from the second half of the 90's. Accidental Spy is also has high budget and looks good.

Accidental Spy has some drawbacks also ( of course comparing to his other movies and not to Oscar like one's). Unlike his other movies, where the plot is straight and simple, here the plot is a bit complicated and has unnecessary twists. This doesn't come along good with nonsense he brings to the movie. The fight choreography is also visually not as compelling as in his other movies.

Overall - not typical Jackie movie in terms of plot but all the other is alike and his fans won't be disappointed. And this is much better then his later work like 'Toexido' , 'Medallion' or 'New Police Story'.

Here's a film that tries to be a bit of everything, and mostly succeeds due to Chan's enthusiasm and charisma. Thankfully it's a bit more serious than some of his other recent work, reminding you more of his mid-eighties films like Police Story than syrupy new stuff like Shanghai Noon and Rush Hour. Still, when it's time for action things get more light-hearted, highlights being a naked Jackie pursued through bustling streets, vainly trying to cover himself with whatever comes to hand while fighting off the baddies, and a ride on a crane as it smashes right through an office building.

Add a capable cast, including the lovely Vivian Hsu (who admittedly doesn't do much except stand around and look pretty – which luckily she's very good at), some of the riskier stunts Chan has done for some time, and a cheesy but fun ‘homage' to Speed at the end, and it's all good stuff. Well worth watching.

Jackie Chan is one of my favorite action stars and The Accidental Spy is not one of my favorite movies he's done. In fact, it's pretty low down the list. The story is that Jackie's father was a spy and left him an opium serum that everyone is after so Jackie's playing a little game to discover it. Along the way he fights bad guys in a couple of decent action scenes (the only good one in this movie has Jackie running naked through the streets of Istanbul), all leading to a half-assed, pointless conclusion where he's saving a family in a tanker truck about to explode. Rather than stop the truck and let everyone out while having the police tailing the truck quarantine the area, he instead decides to keep driving it until it flies off a bridge.

Not recommended.

If you love action-thriller movies, this one is for you. Jacky Chan was very impressive on this one. And the stunts were unbelievable. As suggested by previous reviewers, this one is better than Tuxedo. Definitely better. Grab it and you'll have an entertaining evening.

Review: This movie sees Chan, Buck Yuen, play an over enthusiastic salesman who struggles to get sales in a fitness store and is constantly pushed around by his boss. Whilst going out for lunch in the shopping complex were he works, he witnesses a robbery and all of a sudden, he becomes an action hero by recovering the money from the robbers and getting the culprits captured by the police. His name is then plastered all of over the media and he is tracked down by a private investigator who is looking for a rich man son whose last wish, on his death bed, is to reunite with him. After his father passes away, he is left with these random clues which point to a lot of money and a priceless formula for liquid opium. He then follows the clues which lead him to Turkey but he is hunted down by various spies who also want the priceless formula. With the help of undercover agents, he tackles through the various hit men that want to kill him for the formula and, as usual, he manages the stop the baddies and saves the day. I liked the first half of this movie because you get to see a normal side to Chan, without all of the superhero abilities but when he switches to a Bond type character, it just ends up to be your everyday action movie which we have seen Chan star in, many times before. Half of the time, he did look a bit dazed and confused through the film and it really amazed me how he had the ability to fight off the baddies after being such an average salesman in a shop. Anyway, there are some good stunts throughout the film and Chan really does push the action to the limit by running through a market naked whilst fighting off the baddies. The showdown at the end was quite impressive but when I found out that the whole film was based around a agent who wanted to catch the top dog, it all seemed a bit pointless. Anyway, it's worth a watch just to see the action scenes and a everyday Chan but it's nothing that we haven't seen before. Watchable!

Round-Up: This movie was directed by Teddy Chan whose known for the 2014 movie, Kung Fu Killer starring Donnie Yen. This is the first movie that he has made with Chan and you can see that he didn't really give this movie his all by the way that he is acting throughout the film. After watching some of the movies that Chan has directed himself, like the Police Story franchise, I really did notice a difference between the two movies and the glum look on Chans face proves that he doesn't like to be directed by people who he hasn't worked with before. Don't get me wrong, he does show some true emotion through the film and the attention to detail in the action scenes were spot on but he just seemed a bit distant throughout the film. Chan was 48 when this movie was released and he still was able to pull of those amazing stunts with ease. You wouldn't believe that he was pushing towards 50 whilst watching it. Now at 61 there's no sign of him slowing down and with another Rush Hour and Karate Kid in the pipeline along with the recent release of Dragon Blade with John Cusack and Adrien Brody, he really is a true action hero.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/thriller/martial arts/comedies starring Jackie Chan, Eric Tsang. Vivian Hsu and Min Kim. 4/10

'Accidental Spy' continues with classic Jackie-film themes. International crime, hidden codes and silly kung fu. Everything that a Jackie-fan could wish for. The film has a bizarre contrast. Parts of it are funny enough to make you laugh your head off. Some are very severe and there's even quite a bit of gore. In all its silliness the ending was actually pretty good.

In all this is your standard Jackie film. Not great, but not particularly bad. The problem is that it doesn't really offer anything new to anyone who's seen Armour of God, First Strike or Jackie's ultimate master-piece, Who Am I?. Not a bad film by any measure, but not outstanding either.

I have been watching Jackie chan's film since I was small. Well I must admit that his shows are rather interesting, coupled with great and well choreographed fighting scenes. But this latest offering from Jackie is rather dull, with little action scene and hardly any humour in it. The only part which is interesting and funny is the part when he's naked and running around, fighting the bad guys. This film is way below the average Jackie Chan's film and being the most expensive film made in Hong Kong, it certainly fails to live up to its expectation.

Not recommended by me but I'm sure there are diehard fans out there who will still watch this show.

4 out of 10.

I just saw it last night, and after reading about the "serious tone" of the film I was surprised to see what looked like the usual "happy-go-lucky" sort of stuff we'd expect....silly robbers, some mugging, Jackie running naked through the streets of Turkey. But about halfway through things took a turn toward darkness. I liked this...not everything needs to be sugar-coated, and we get to see Jackie act, with some good supporting players. There's a pretty vicious plot twist or two, which I felt made things even more interesting, and though I'd read about the film, it still kept my attention. On the obvious side there's some really awesome stuntwork, some of the coolest things I've seen done, and the fighting, though short is as usual fun to watch. My only complaint is that I felt things wrapped up waaaay to quickly with the major villains, and though the ending was neat, I was sort of distracted by this. All in all though, good story, good acting, and the seriousness was much appreciated...8/10

I remember there being a lot of 'hush' when this show was in production, which made me all the more concerned as to what the outcome was going to be like.

And when I finally got it on DVD, I have to say the outcome… was worth the wait.

The Accidental Spy is quite different from the usual Jackie Chan vehicle, and as his number one fan (aren't we all?) I get a tad concerned when one of these 'different vehicles' is on the way.

I blame Stanley Tong!

His attempt to make Jackie's movies look more 'Hollywood-like' seemed to also include the loss of the infamous end battle which we all live for in a HK movie. And this seems to have carried over to this movie – not directed by Tong, but by Teddy Chen (Purple Storm, Downtown Torpedoes).

Once again, the idea of a non-fighting, yet action-packed ending seems to have been the choice of the day for what could have been, another Chan classic.

It's not all bad… But instead of a fantastic end fight, we get to see our hero try and control a speeding oil tanker down busy roads, through people filled streets, and, oh yeah – it's ass is also on fire. This means that if that truck slows down, the flames will move forward and light the oil.

Sounds exciting? Well, I guess it is. But enough negativity, let's focus on the good stuff this Chan flick has to offer!

Well I guess we should start with the man himself… Jackie has played most and all characters on screen over the last 30 years, so it's strange, but nice, to see him play – a sports store sales assistant.

Yes… that's right. In a nice introductory scene, we get to see him try and flog some gym equipment to a rich man and his wife (which doesn't work too well) before he heads out to lunch and gets caught up in a major bank robbery. And this is where the fun starts!

After a tight fight in an elevator, Jackie takes a ride on a runaway crane, smashing through office blocks before being deemed a hero by national television and newspapers. Quite a fun little opening I must add, and then things start to turn a little darker.

This is were fans of the usual Jackie Chan fare got divided.

Low on laughs, slow on action, but there's still something in it that makes me go back to watch it again and again. This is one you need to see to decide for yourself…

Avoid the American release at all costs!

*Spawned a TV series in China without JC...

If Jacky Chan wanted to make a commercial, he should have, but not this movie full with promotion of the companies who sponsored him. Beside that the film is to long, with an unnecessary long ride in the truck, and a stupid ending in Italy. It is not exciting, it is not funny, and it never should have been made.

That unfairly never made it to the Cinemas (well in the UK anyway) probably because most of the dialogue is dubbed into English. There is more than enough action, with countless breathtaking stunts (Mainly performed by Chan himself) The bad Guys though are very much underused - so you never really feel Jackie's life is in danger. Otherwise a very good Chan Movie that's a must watch for his fans

My rating 8/10