The Accidental Spy (2001)

Working unsuccessfully as a fitness equipment salesman, Buck (Chan) finds his life taking a dramatic turnaround. An ace at fighting and fearless to boot, one day he goes out on a limb and foils a robbery. Acclaim is heaped for his heroics, jack-of-all-trades private eye Many Liu (Tsang) starts pestering him, and his birth father is revealed. Orphaned four months after birth, Buck's never known the father who now suddenly wants to see him. He's told Dad's on his deathbed in a maximum security hospital up in Korea. And what's more, there could be an inheritance in store.

Dad turns out to be North Korean defector and famed spy Park Won-jung, now held under heavy guard. Before he dies, Park offers Buck a game of hide-and-seek. If Buck wins, he gets the inheritance. And if he loses, he'll still have fun anyway.

Park passes away and some goodies are handed to Buck: a $10,000 cheque, a crucifix necklace and a key. Asked to cast Park's ashes by his wife's grave, Buck spots the words "Wait for me" etched onto the tombstone. Buck asks what the audience is asking: Why is it written in English? Sure enough it's a code, and the flower atop it is also a hint. Buck takes up the hide-and-seek challenge and, unperturbed by various pursuers and toughies lurking in the wings, heads off to Istanbul to claim his reward. When he arrives Buck finds there's much more to the fortune than expected, due in no small part to Park's spiriting away a new strain of the anthrax virus.

From here on The Accidental Spy stays in Istanbul for action antics and some fairly interesting plotting. Fights punctuate the flick regularly, equipped with some destruction and road thrills along the way. The story to knit it all together is as implausible as expected but coherent enough to follow, with two clear groups pursuing the protagonist with good reason. Stumbles come in overly convenient plot fixes, peaking with Buck freed from a Turkish prison with a CIA agent's explanation that "Americans can be useful". Another failing comes at the end when closure comprises an extended action scene and outro chatter, instead of memorable conclusion to the initial scenes preceding the film's opening credits.

The action comes across reasonably well on the screen, highlighted by a fun scene as buck-naked Buck fights opponents in a market; all the while keeping his nether regions out of sight. Here, as with other key moments, fight scenes make use of sets, props and surrounding heavy machinery to enhance the action. While the various fight scenes prove entertaining little pieces, closing the film with one-note traffic mayhem instead of more person-to-person action is a disappointment. While a couple of brief car chases are effective early in the film, the climax of a flaming petrol tanker charging through a city drags far too long, with a spot of Mission: Impossible-style music not as enlivening as it should be.

Scenes between the thriller moments are clear enough to watch, though the occasional wide-angle approach renders some spectacular interiors with distracting barrel distortion. Turkey makes a distinct, if sometimes drab, change of scenery and the location shoots permit all the large-scale action the filmmakers achieve. On the more trivial side, I resented a meaningless Verona-set addendum placed after the credits, seemingly presented as a ploy to keep viewers seated through the names of corporate sponsors.

Chan proved likeable and cheery in the lead role, successfully adding a certain naivete to a character taken for a ride far removed from his humdrum life. Vivian Hsu shows up as a lady held under Buck's new adversary Mr Zen and provides an interesting and attractive character. Mr Zen himself is played by Compeuppance's Wu Hsing-kuo, again calmly playing an underworld boss. Korean actress Kim Min Jeong plays a reporter digging up info on Park. While figuring into the scenario throughout, her character's role by the end is weak and doubtful. It's unclear why Eric Tsang is billed before Hsu and Kim in the credits, for his presence is too brief to appreciate, regardless of his initial hairdo. Cameos dot the film with Cheung Tat-ming notable as the fitness store manager. One wonders why an action wiz like Buck would put up with a sales job under an irritating boss like him.

The hand painted billboard for The Accidental Spy at Wanchai's fine Imperial cinema.

Top of page: Printed and painted billboard at the Queen's Theatre, Central.
Middle of page: Printed billboard at Broadway Cinema, Mongkok.

Credits:

Directed by Teddy Chen
Produced by Jackie Chan
Executive producers: Stephen Chu and David Chan
Screenplay by Ivy Ho
Music by Peter Kam
Action choreography by Stephen Tung Wai and the Jackie Chan Stunt Team
Starring: Jackie Chan, Vivian Hsu, Kim Min Jeong, Wu Hsing-kuo, Eric Tsang and Bradley James Allen
Cameos: Cheung Tat-ming, Alfred Cheung, Ha Ping and Vincent Kuk