Customer Reviews

Robin-B-Hood

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm a huge Jackie Chan fan, and this movie does deliver on its promise that it has some of his best stunt work in recent years. The fight scenes bring back memories of the old Police Story films, with fast and furious fighting all around. There's definitely better fight scenes here than in the recent Rush Hour 3 movie.

So what's the problem? For one thing, this movie is uneven on every level. It's not funny enough to be called a comedy, though there are some funny moments. It's too melodramatic to be taken seriously as a drama. The action scenes are amazing, but take forever to occur. The feeble attempts at romance are laughable. The plot is weird, and the ending is way too over the top (try hooking yourself up to a car battery to see if it's really possible).

While I did enjoy parts of this film a lot, there were a few too many stumbling blocks to call it a perfect film. Still, if you're tired of the "safe" action Jackie's had in many of his recent films, this will feed your need for adrenaline...you just may have to fast forward quite a bit to hit the good stuff.

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 enfant 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.

***½/*****

The extras on the Dragon Dynasty DVD are quite good though they have stupendously stupid names. The best is a 39 minute interview with Jackie Chan named "Crashing the Hood." In this he talks about how he wanted to be more serious as an actor and how he wanted to play more of a bad guy (this would be repeated on most of the extras) and how he had trouble passing the script through China. He talks about how he wants to work with more of his Peking school brothers (Sammo Hung and Yuen Wah) and some of his experiences with Michael Hui on "Cannonball Run." He even talks about his changing belief in CGI, how he channeled his Mom's stroke into this character and his non-use of storyboarding. He does make a mistake stating that this is his first main bad guy role (that would be "Killer Meteors" (1977) plus he did a couple of "thug" roles even earlier in his career). The most telling quote is when he states "I control the whole movie" dispelling any notion of the director as auteur for this film especially since this movie is produced by Jackie's company JCE Movies Limited.

"The Hand That Mocks The Cradle" is a 16 minute interview with Benny Chan that repeats much of what is in the commentary except that he does state that Jackie Chan micromanages much less now then he did when he first directed him in "Who Am I." "Baby Boomer: A featurette with costar Conroy Chan" (14m) is interesting because of so much of what Conroy actually does. He is an X-Games promoter, was an electrical engineer in college, is a rap group member and has an Australian accent. However, he has a small role in the film. "Playtime for Adults: On the Site of Robin B. Hood" (22m) and "Robin-B-Hood: An Original Making Of" (22m) are typical "making of" fare that were originally (along with the director's commentary) put out on the R3 release. Luckily those two features have scenes of Yuen Biao being interviewed.

Now where are the deleted scenes?

The audio commentary by Benny Chan (with two interviewers who do not state their names), which was ported over from the R3 disc, is informative if not a bit dry. The Dragon Dynasty cover has a mistake in advertising stating that Bey Logan is on the commentary. He is not -- to the condemnation of some and to the happiness of others. Benny Chan talks much about how many scenes were cut (the work print of the film was three hours long; though he states he prefers the shorter version; thank goodness) and that most of the cut scenes were non-action. He also talks about some of the influence of Project A and Winners and Sinners. It was the first comedy for Benny Chan and Benny talked about how the baby was very difficult - this was echoed in much of the extras. Most of the commentary was scene-by-scene discussing where the missing scenes were, who some of the cameo actors are and his personal feelings on several scenes such as his struggling with the rationale of the "shocking" scene toward the end.

After regaining some of the ground he lost in Hollywood with his last couple of Hong Kong films, Jackie Chan takes a big step backwards with the overlong Rob-B-Hood, a downmarket three bad men and a baby romp that offers limp gay jokes, comic relief mental illness, family bonding and child endangerment for all the family. There is one fairly good action sequence at the halfway point as well as a neat stunt that sees him jumping down a building via the air conditioning units, but you definitely get the feeling that Chan's no longer pushing himself but is just doing what he knows he can still do while Yuen Biao is mostly wasted in a nothing bit part. He's made worse, but that's hardly a recommendation.

Dragon Dynasty's 2-disc set offers the theatrical version with audio commentary. There's also a variety of interviews and featurettes, but the film is such heavy going you quite possibly won't want to spend any longer on it once you've seen it.

I love this movie. The title of the movie makes it sound lame, but don't make the mistake of juding this book by its covered. It's kind of like "3 Men and a Baby" meets "Police Story". Do yourself a favor and watch this movie.

I love jackie chan movies, he's my idol, but my favorites aren't the old school kung fu movies my favorites are the ones in the 90's where he speaks in english limiting what he can say but opening up his physical comedy like in Rumble in the Bronx, Who am I, or even Mr Nice Guy. In those movies his personality differentiates him from other kung fu stars like Jet Li(who are all kickin butt and are a dime a dozen). That's not to say i don't like his all out fight flicks like the second drunken master, but i don't really like his old school flicks like the fearless hyena where his charisma is covered up. I say all this because i really enjoyed Robin B Hood and if you are of the same opinion as i am you will like it to. Sure its plot is absurd even way more so than the look-a-like Vin Diesel movie this reminds me of. Sure most of the things that happen are hardly pluasible, but plot and plausibility are hardly what i watch jackie chan movies for. I didn't like his ultra serious roles like in Crime Story as much as i like him snowboarding off a mountain onto a helicopter into a frozen lake like in first strike. If your not trying to find a jackie chan movie like schindler's list which i argue would be more absurd than anything else, but want to see an over the top enjoyable true jackie chan movie with some truly spectacular stunts for his age(which doesn't seem to show in this movie as it did in Rush Hour 3) with cheesy jokes this is the one. If you want the best jackie chan movie to show to children, this is also probably the one(if you don't count kung fu panda. But if you are trying to watch an all out brawl with some humor avoid this one and go for legend of the drunken master, the police storys', rumble in the bronx, or for just one pretty awesome fight scene Gorgeous will do. If you want a movie where he is trying to win an oscar, well i don't know why you liked him in the first place.

I love Jackie Chan, so it pains me to give this movie a mediocre at best review. There must be some contract with action stars that requires them to do a lame baby movie at least once in their carreer (I'm looking at you Vin Diesel). As to this one, its not per se a bad movie, the action is decent, but the story is fairly weak, following the usual, "I'm so cool I don't need kids around, but wait I reluctantly have to take care of a kid, and after some time really like the kid and eventually must save it" story. There are of course the standard poopy diaper and peeing in the face jokes one would expect as well. So why didn't I give it one star, well, the actors are pretty good, given what they have. And Jackie pulls off a few great action/comedy moments. So in all, the movie is not particularly great, but was watchable. Recomended if you're looking for another jackie chan film, or are really into cliche baby movies.

The great, unbeatable, real life actionman Jackie Chan is ageing. This of course is not new or shocking information, but it is true. Therefore he has shifted focus a bit in his new film, "Robin B Hood" (for which the English name in China interestingly enough was 'Rob-B-Hood', which to my ears at least sounds a bit better). Although he still fights and leaps and such, it is no longer the main act. The comedy takes over, and I must say, quite succesfully.

There is one big problem with this though. While action and leaping around is universally understood, humour varies from one end of the world to another, and I think that there is a bit of that going on here. If you understand Chinese and Chinese culture and or cinema history, you will probably see more funny things in this film than if you don't. There are still plenty of things that are easily recognized as humourous, but many of the references and a lot of the dialogue is better if you speak Chinese. Nothing surprising about that really.

I think there are enough leaping and figthing (and a visit from Yuan Biao) to keep genre fans happy, and enough humour to keep anyone else satisfied. In short: I think it is a good film. Highly recommendable.

I got to this review page searching for when this movie was really made.

I considered JC's action scenes in Rush Hour III as an indication he was ready for the "Over-the-Hill Gang", and told myself Robin B Hood was dragged out of a Taiwan vault.

But I was sucked in by the hype on the box, and it did live up to it. The action scenes are reminiscent of earlier films, and it was good to see it was made recently.

Confusing? Absolutely, especially in the first half. Thongs, Landlord and Octopus' characters in the early action scenes segue not at all into some of the other first-half "personal" scenes. I had to rewind to connect Octopus to the early action scenes with the later scenes of him being a total jerk to his wife. Is this that guy we saw earlier, dear?

But, I agree with another reviewer: this is not an American film. Maybe we are too used to characters and plots that follow steps 1,2 and 3.

In the end, I think the plot and character relationships were resolved satisfactorily. Not perhaps to the standard of a professional thriller, but definitely beyond the expectations of a B-action movie.

If you thing that the dregs of human behavior
is somehow amusing, then this is the movie for you.

Jackie Chan, which is the only reason anyone would
even consider this movie and which would generally
be adequate, is not all that great in this movie.
Jackie Chan is an acrobatic/martial arts/stunt expert
and there is not enough of that in this movie.
He also is a comic actor and probably could make
the transition to comedy without the extreme stunts,
but this is not the way for him to do it.

No amount of good looking people, light-hearted music
and silly behavior can overcome the characters
and themes presented in this movie and that attempt
to elicit sympathy from the viewer.
There are many movies that find the comical aspect
within misfortune and hardship, but this is not one of those.
I felt guilty for watching the whole thing
and for the occasional smiles that were coerced out of me.

The movie was a slick package with excellent cinematography
and music, but...
you can put a pleasing candy coating on poison and you still
shouldn't eat it.

I watched this movie because Jackie Chan put his name on it,
unfortunately, that has greatly reduced his capital.
In the future, I will be likely to avoid his more recent films.

What's up with Dragon Dynasty?
That DVD production company has built a reputation
for finding the finest Asian films and releasing them
on DVD.
Why would this one be released by that label?
Ditto about reduced capital and damaged reputation.

Jackie Chan is a somewhat wasted talent because so many
of his movies are lame and only worth anything as a source
of film clips highlighting his acrobatics and stunts.
Too bad for movie lovers, although sometimes good enough.
In this case it's not good enough.
There's no reason to watch this movie when you can
watch "Drunken Master" or "Snake In The Eagle's Shadow",
two true classics,
or even his supporting role in "The Hand Of Death".
Anything but this.

The Movie may not remind you of action from Police story series or the Armour of God but yes its worth the watch for the different character chosen by Jackie this time. The Baby is too cute and the movie has certain excellent choreographed stunts and the comedy timing is smooth in all the scenes. This Dragon Dynasty version has an interview of Jackie with run time of almost one hour and the best part is the same has a English Audio too with the print of this edition being far better than the other Rob B Hood version from different distributor versions....... A die hard Jackie Chan fan should purchase a own copy of this special 2 disc edition.