Rob-B-Hood

Year:2006
Director:Benny Chan Muk-Sing
Cast:Jackie Chan, Louis Koo Tin-Lok, Michael Hui Koon-Man, Matthew Medvedev, Gao Yuanyuan, Charlene Choi Cheuk-Yin, Chen Baoguo, Yuen Biao, Teresa Carpio, Candy Yu On-On, Cherrie Ying Choi-Yi, Terence Yin, Conroy Chan Chi-Chung, Andrew Lin Hoi, Ken Lo Wai-Kwong, Hayama Hiro, Guk Fung, Ken Wong Hap-Hei, Tony Ho Wah-Chiu, Winnie Leung Man-Yi, Don Li Yat-Long, Mandy Chiang Nga-Man, Gill Mohindepaul Singh, Bonnie Wong Man-Wai, Daniel Wu, Nicholas Tse Ting-Fung, Asuka Higuchi, Gordon Lam Ka-Tung, Joe Cheung Tung-Cho, Hui Siu-Hung, Jason Tobin, Sarika Choy
Description:
If
you can't beat them, join them - or, in this case,
hire them. Any discussion of a new Jackie Chan film
must reference the action actor's advancing age, and
that isn't meant to be a slight to Chan at all. Let's
face it, the man isn't as spry or durable as he was
back in the days of Project A, and departing
youth also means fewer of the crazy stunts and action
antics that Chan is known for. Well, for Rob-B-Hood,
Chan has hired youth - and we're not talking about
younger actors like co-stars Louis Koo or Charlene
Choi. Chan has gone and hired a complete infant for
his latest action-comedy: baby Matthew Medvedev is
the selling point for Rob-B-Hood, and his oversized
noggin gets more acreage on the movie's poster than
either Chan or his costars. In hiring a tyke, Chan
has gone blindingly commercial - but hey, it works!
Rob-B-Hood is pandering and obvious, but also
fun, unexpected, and a swell time at the movies. At
least until the ending. We'll get to that.
Chan is Thongs, who
partners with Octopus and Landlord to form a trio of safecracking cat burglars.
The three regularly get together to relieve wealthy
citizens of their valuables, which range from cash
to jewelry to even gourmet shark fin. Thongs and Octopus
have been taught by Landlord that thieves still have
scruples; the trio may rob, but they don't rape, murder,
or kidnap. That is, not until tonight. When Landlord's
retirement stash gets pilfered, he willingly takes
on a big assignment that involves the kidnapping of
an adorable baby . Octopus and Thongs
would never go for it, but by the time they catch
on, the baby is in their bag and they're already fleeing
the crime scene. The hand-off collapses, however.
Landlord crashes the getaway van, but Thongs and Octopus
manage to escape with the baby. When Landlord checks
in with them from the slammer, he reveals that the
kid is the offspring of an insanely rich tycoon. Instead
of the expected $7 million payday, the payoff could
be much, much more.
But Octopus and Thongs
must first take care of the kid for the 1-2 weeks
needed for Landlord to get released from jail. Not
surprisingly, this is a bit of a chore for a couple
of blokes like Thongs and Octopus, especially when
you consider just how selfish they are. Thongs consistently
gambles his money away, and is deep in debt, much
to the shame of his family, who get harassed by loan
sharks in his stead. Meanwhile, Octopus tries to seduce
rich young women to snag a share of their family fortunes,
while badgering his pregnant wife Yan
to get an abortion in Shenzen right away. Yeah, both
guys kind of suck, but once they're charged with caring
for the kid, everything changes. The emasculating
situations and poop jokes start flying fast and furiously,
and the two are forced out of their me-first comfort
zones. The first evening, the baby can't stop crying
so Thongs and Octopus have to charm him with their
questionable singing skills and games of peek-a-boo.
It's still not enough, so they enlist the aid of comely
young nurse , who teaches
them the ins and outs of baby care. Cue a five-minute
montage where Thongs and Octopus go from accidental
baby-sitters to full-fledged parents. Man, that was
quick.
But not unexpected.
Rob-B-Hood possesses a very common formula,
about a bunch of selfish masculine types who get softened
by the goo-goo eyes of an adorable little kid. The
script is as original as as your average Wong Jing
flick, and leans on several clichés to wring
the expected tears and laughs from a presumably family-filled
audience. It's all very calculated and even crass,
but hey, it's also very effective. Rob-B-Hood
may be retread stuff, but it hits its marks well,
and does what it should with credible commercial efficiency.
Benny Chan directs the film smartly, mixing the jokes,
the "aw shucks" baby moments, and Jackie
Chan's trademark creative action into a well-rounded,
entertaining whole. There are the occasional detours
into the maudlin, and most of the lead characters'
personal issues aren't terribly inspiring. Still,
the conflicts are resolved in ways that seem to strike
the correct emotional chords. Thongs may be a bad
son, but hanging with the baby makes him a good father.
Octopus wants Yan to get an abortion, but the baby
makes him change his mind. Landlord's wife once had a miscarriage, so he cheers her up
by introducing her to the baby. It's not surprising
stuff, but at least it doesn't embarrass or offend.
A lot of this is due
to the cast, which mixes rising stars with old faves,
character actors, and even a couple of surprise cameos.
Jackie Chan and Louis Koo are far from the most subtle
of actors, but both are willing to put their manhood
on the line in order to score some laughs. Koo, in
particular, lampoons his lady-killer image with an
amusing, almost nauseating glee. Michael Hui is still
an ace at both comedy and drama, and Yuen Biao, who
has a supporting role as Thongs' police officer pal
Mok, is still able to hold his own during Chan's creatively
choreographed action sequences. The supporting players
are used effectively too. Charlene Choi is refreshingly
moody as Yan, and Gao Yuanyuan gives her too-angelic
character a sincere appeal. A minor surprise occurs
thanks to Nicholas Tse, who is shockingly funny in
a brief cameo as an armored car driver. Sadly, the
same cannot be said for Daniel Wu, who plays Tse's
partner and delivers the movie's worst line, a colossal
groaner that suffers from a too-obvious setup.
But the most pivotal
actor in the entire film may be little Matthew Medvedev,
who has more screen charisma in his oversized head
than most screen actors could probably ever hope to
possess. Considering just how much peril the baby
is put in - which includes getting put in washing
machines, almost getting crushed in traffic, or being
dangled from the window of a Lan Kwai Fong apartment
building - it's helpful that the kid they cast is
so damn cute. Eventually it's revealed that a crimeboss
wants the baby to prove his family lineage,
and when the baby cries after being separated from
kidnappers/adopted parents Thongs and Octopus, it's
hard not to feel something for the little guy. It's
supreme manipulation on the filmmakers' part, but
thanks to the baby, it works. Frankly, the baby is
so cute and expressive that one wonders if he's not
some sort of robot. If so, sign him up for Rob-B-Hood
2 and 3.
Rob-B-Hood has
received some nominal press coverage because it presents
a "bad" Jackie Chan who's not a cop or a
do-gooder, but instead a thief and a gambler. The
claims are a bit overstated; the character of Thongs
is really not that bad. He may be robbing a hospital
of its chemotherapy medicine when he first appears,
but before long he's demonstrated a conscience, and
the film's climax hinges on him sacrificing himself
to save a vulnerable child. Honestly, it may nearly
be impossible to ever see Chan as a full-fledged baddie
unless he's playing the Asian version of Hannibal
Lecter, and even then the reaction would probably
be, "Hey look, it's Jackie Chan trying to act
like Hannibal Lecter!" Chan's screen persona
is so affable and genuine-seeming that it's easy to
root for him, and adding the baby and the eclectic
cast to the mix gives Chan enough new tools to play
with such that this latest screen outing doesn't feel
as stale as some of his previous ones. Rob-B-Hood
is fun because it allows Chan to play to his current
strengths - comedy and inventive action sequences - and does so in an efficient, entertaining manner.
That is, up until the
film's climax, which reintroduces us to Jackie Chan,
the sweaty overactor. Rob-B-Hood frequently
puts Thongs and the baby in over-the-top peril , and while most of the sequences
are entertaining, it is possible to go too
far. The filmmakers do so in their overdone climax,
which pairs Chan with another sweaty overactor in
Louis Koo. Seeing the two wig out while desperately
trying to save the baby can be affecting at first,
but as the minutes tick by and their acting grows
egregiously sweaty and twitchy, it all starts to feel
uncomfortable and even a little creepy. Their method
of saving the baby is also incredibly ridiculous,
such that it's possible to be taken completely out
of the movie by the time the familiar outtakes-over-the-credits
begin to play. To make matters worse, the overlong
ending pads the film to over 2 hours, plus it seems
suspiciously designed to please Mainland censors.
Still, these quibbles are aimed only at the last twenty
or so minutes of the film, and anyway, the concessions
are made in order to earn mass audience appeal, which
the film handily does. For the majority of its running
time, Rob-B-Hood is amusing commercial stuff
that should be fun for nearly the whole family. However,
if you have your own kids at home, please take better
care of them than these guys do.