Maybe it’s a side effect of the collective dumbing-down of moviegoing audiences. Maybe it’s because this new comedy starring former bad-boy rapper Ice Cube is a prime example of Lowest Common Denominator filmmaking. Maybe it’s because movies like Christmas With the Kranks are just too subtle and understated. I have no idea. What I do …
Admittedly, I wasn’t expecting much from this adaptation of the Jules Verne classic, especially since it stars Jackie Chan – whose last two big-screen forays (The Medallion and Shanghai Knights) left me less than a’glow with adoration. But, lo and behold, the movie’s actually pretty good! Chan stars as a Chinese villager named Lau Xing …
After the first 20 minutes or so of harrowing scenes, multiple-character introductions, and mumbling mountain-climbing mumbo-jumbo, I leaned over to my Japanese friend, who sat wide-eyed, enthralled, yet confused, and asked her if she knew what was going on. She shook her head no, so I wrapped it up for her: “There is a brother …