Customer Reviews

The Spy Next Door (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Edition)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This movie was pretty funny, the kids were cute, and the overarching themes of telling the truth and protecting your loved ones are great points of discussion with children. For those that love Jackie Chan movies, you might be a little disappointed that there is not as much action in this movie and some of the stunts are obviously on wires. But it is a movie for kids/families, so the level and excitement of the stunts seemed appropriate to me. A few things I would want to be aware of as a parent before watching the movie with my child: 1)the female villain often shows a lot of cleavage 2)The 13 year old daughter seems to get away with being very disrespectful to the mom (though it is kind of explained a little later in the movie) 3)there is a little profanity 4)a college age young man hits on the 13 year old daughter (though Jackie doesn't let him get away with it) 5)the young boy in the movie boasts about watching pornography on pay-per view 6)he is also obsessed with getting older girls to show interest in him and receives some tips from Jackie on how to accomplish it.

If you're looking for a decent, fun little movie you can watch with your family in a relatively painless fashion then you've come to the right place.

For some reason many action stars have supplemented their income by appearing in movies with kids. Maybe they are trying to widen their appeal from the hardcore action audience to the family friendly scene. Maybe they're getting too old to keep up with the pace of a full-on action movie. I don't know why they do it, but it's almost becoming mandatory for these guys to take on a kid or three as a side-kick and attempt to blend action and family fare.

And these attempts almost always stink.

This one is better. It's still "action-light" but I think it works because of the star, Jackie Chan. His character seems like a genuinely nice guy who wants to get along with the mandatory bratty kids. Chan's light presence matches up with the tone of the movie and makes it seem ....hmm...not as weird and patently unbelievable and maybe even patronizing as other movies of this kind.

Basically Jackie plays Bob Ho, a Chinese secret agent on loan to the CIA. He retires so he can marry Gillian, a divorced single mom who is looking for someone reliable. Her kids don't really cotton to Bob though, so she decides to put her relationship with Bob on hold until they're ok with her marrying Bob. Bob is saddened but resolves to win the kids and his girl friend over.

Then, luckily, hijinx ensue. One of Gillian's kids downloads some top secret stuff off Bob's computer and before you can say Boris and Natasha some evil Russians are in hot pursuit. After a variety of PG style mishaps Bob captures the bad guys and wins the day, the girl friend and the family. And like I said, it works because Jackie Chan doesn't seem shoe-horned into the role.

The action is lighter than most Chan movies but it is inventive and fun. The kids act a little more like real kids than Hollywood Central Casting pods. The youngest kid in particular seems like real 4 year old, goofy and light hearted. When she delivered the line" I don't wanna be a princess, I wanna be a cyboooorg!" I cracked up. I actually laughed more than a few times, which surprised me. As long as you realize going in that this is just very light family entertainment I think you'll be pleased

Good natured Spy vs. Kids action flick is a low-cal twinkie even by family film standards. The critics liked to play rough with it; and if you feel snooty about it, better stay away. Cute is its stock in trade and there are no disappointments if expectations remain logical: PG Jackie Chan suburban domestic comedy with mild action. Wacky Russian mobsters and their dominatrix-babe leader wear leathers and generally show bad taste as the foil in the spy plot, which follows Jackie home to his family to be.
Good for kids or adults like me who need a balance from the heavy stuff.
Blu-ray makes the grade for sight and sound.

Oh, my love for Jackie Chan hasn't altered in over 30 years, and I'll still watch anything with him in it. Last I saw of him was FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, in which he passed his superhero torch to the beautiful Michael Angarano.

Here, Chan is Bob Ho, a retired Chinese good-guy-spy "on loan to the CIA" for a last mission. What is cool is Chan gives himself a full speaking role and a sweet American love interest. They plan on getting married, Bob ("not my real name") is retired, all's well.

His girl gets a call that her father is in trouble (hip replacement from a softball game injury). She asks Bob to babysit the kids. All hell breaks loose with a hilarious Russian spy who can't find decent clothes, the kids are brats and eventually help Bob with his troubles. Happy ending at the altar.

If you think this is warmed-over THREE NINJAS, think again. Chan is not as his best--he's old, give him a rest! The film is heartwarming, funny, not as predictable as you might think. The kids are hilarious and it's clear Chan gave this one a lot of thought. It isn't silly, maudlin or over-the-top. Everything from the spying to the babysitting is spot-on realism.

Even Billy Ray Cyrus as the unfairly suspected CIA agent is cool, though he adamantly demonstrates a total lack of acting skill.

I won't want this in my Jackie Chan classics collection, but you have to see this film and see what may be the closest portrayal to Chan in real life. It's JACKIE CHAN!!!!--awesome.

My son enjoyed this movie. It was cheap and came promptly. It was in great condition. This was a great movie for my son. He enjoys movies about spies. I am glad that I found it at Amazon. Thanks Amazon for making my son's day.

If you like Jackie Chan, you'll love The Spy Next Door. While the story is different from the usual cops & robbers type movie the talented Mr. Chan stars in, this one is a very good family movie. Jackie, known as "Bob" in the film, in love with his next door neighbor offers to look after her three children during her absence to visit an ailing relative. The children are a 13 year-old girl, easily classified as a real brat during the first half of the story; a brilliant boy-child who has spent much of his young life as fodder for school bullies, and a precicious four-year-old girl who steals many of the scenes. While the children's mother may in fact be in love with Jackie/Bob, the children loathe him, and the older girl and her brother, set out to torment him during his tenure as their babysitter. The fact that Jackie/Bob is a spy is not known to either the children or their mother, the young ones consider him to be a real wuss. As a good spy should, Jackie is able to devise some electronic gadgets to keep the children in line (for example, a gizmo that saves him from chasing the four-year-old by snaking out a line that latches onto her clothing, lifts her up, and delivers her back to her babysitter when she wanders off as she tends to do. The rest of the film is fairly predictable. There are the requisite "bad guys," (Russians, of course), the growing affection between Jackie and the children, and the inevitable confrontation between the good and the bad. And of course, there are plenty of gymnastics and stunts performed by our favorite humorous good guy.

All in all, this is a very enjoyable film with plenty of laughs and delightful characters. You can also spend quite a bit of time wondering if "Jackie really did that?" or if what you're viewing is some sort of camera or computer trick. Whether it is or not, this movie is definitely worth the price.

This movie failed on a number of levels. First, from a Jackie Chan movie you expect at least some good martial arts scenes. There were none here. In fact, the fight scenes were rather boring. The acting was terrible. Sure, Chan is not first an actor but he has improved over time and is always at least passable. When the main character's acting is passable it needs to be boosted by legitimate acting professionals. So what did the producers do? They get George Lopez and Billy Ray Cyrus to play besides Chan. What a disaster they are. The kid actors, well, you can't put too much blame on them but they were also hard to take. Their lines were overdone. I suppose they did the best they could. When your own kids are laughing at the child actors, you know there's a problem. Perhaps the worst part of the movie was the actors pretending to be Russians. These people probably had the worst collection of Russian accents ever. Some of this may be acceptable in a comedy, to a degree, but in this was it was just pathetic. The plot was unimaginative and predictable: nerdy guy in love with beautiful divorcee with kids tries to get the kids to like him. You can see almost every scene coming. One major movie mistake: the setting is very California suburbia but Chan and his babe go out on a date to a street that I swear was in the 50's in Manhattan. Avoid disappointment and see some other Jackie Chan movie.

My children have been watching the DVD over and over since they got it. (The title of this review came from them.)

This is a great movie for children 10 years old through senior citizen. The movie has some important lessons, but they might be missed by the younger age group.

The Spy Next Door (2010) is something a little different for martial arts star Jackie Chan. Intended as family entertainment, the action/comedy features Chan as Chinese secret agent Bob Ho on assignment in America, working with the CIA to try and apprehend Anton Poldark (Magnus Scheving), a Russian who has developed a substance that dissolves petroleum Russian. Ho's real aspirations are to retire from the espionage business, get married, and try and live a normal life. The tone is mostly light-hearted and fun, as Ho is involved in a romance with his neighbor Gillian (Amber Valetta), and has to somehow convince her three children that he is not a complete dork.

Bob takes charge over the three kids, Farren (Madeline Carroll), Ian (Will Shadley), and Nora (Alina Foley), when Gillian has to leave to care for her father. Most of the humor revolves around Bob's attempts to handle the kids, and try and win their trust and affections. While all are basically good kids, it's still an uphill struggle for a guy with minimal parenting skills. Farren is a little rebellious, and doesn't feel like part of the family. Ian is bright, but prone to exaggeration. And Nora is just a cute little bundle of energy, that is almost too much to handle.

Life gets complicated, when Ian downloads a file containing Poldark's formula, using Bob's laptop. Poldark dispatches a hit team led by Tatiana Creel (Katherine Boecher), to recover the file and kill whoever has it. Bedlam ensues when the Russian's show up at Gillian's home. Bob turns to CIA agents Glaze (George Lopez) and Colton James (Billy Ray Cyrus) for help, but finds that he is mostly on his own. All roads lead back to Gillian's house, for a showdown with the Russians, on Halloween.

The Spy Next Door isn't hilariously funny, but is still probably entertaining family fare for those with younger children, and dedicated Jackie Chan fans. Even after so many years, a language barrier still exists for Chan, but as is usually the case, his upbeat approach, good natured attitude, and still impressive athletic skills, does a lot to overcome his lack of verbal skills. Although the role of family guy may not be one that we are used to seeing him play, Chan does pretty well working with young actors, particularly Alina Foley. Besides the kids, the remaining supporting cast doesn't have that much to do, and character development is close to nil. Better editing and scene transitions, would have helped things flow a little more smoothly, but the silly, uncomplicated, and cliché filled story holds together fairly well, mixing incidents of domestic crisis, with a few mildly violent action scenes.