The Spy Next Door 邻家特工(2010) ~ Chinese Movies&TV

The Spy Next Door (邻家特工lín jiā tègōng) is a 2010 American spy comedy family film starring Jackie Chan (成龙Chéng Lóng), Amber Valletta, Billy Ray Cyrus and George Lopez. Filming started in late October in New Mexico and was finished in late December 2008. The film was released on January 15, 2010 in the United States. The film was released on DVD, and Blu-ray on May 18, 2010. The film tributes Chan’s films by showing clips, references and even referencing Chan’s real life childhood.

Plot

Bob Ho (Jackie Chan) is a Chinese super-spy on loan to the CIA who decides to retire so he can be with neighbour next-door and girlfriend, Gillian (Amber Valletta). Gillian’s father is in the hospital and Bob says he can babysit her kids Farren (Madeline Carroll), Ian (Will Shadley), and Nora (Alina Foley). Farren and Ian sneak into Bob’s house and Ian downloads a top-secret formula from his computer. Bob’s archenemy, a Russian terrorist named Anton Poldark, who developed a substance that dissolves petroleum, moves in to attack, forcing Bob to juggle the roles of spy and prospective stepfather in the most challenging mission of his career. Bob asks Colton James (Billy Ray Cyrus), his spy partner, to help him, but he is not sure if he can trust Colton. Matters are further complicated when a Russian spy, Larry (Lucas Till) attacks Bob, forcing him to tell the kids and Gillian that he is a spy. In addition, Bob learns that his boss, Glaze (George Lopez), is actually working for Poldark and the Russians due to that Poldark will destroy all the oil supply everywhere but Russia. Bob manages to escape and flees to Gillian’s home. Soon, Poldark arrives and engages Bob in a fight with his henchmen. At the end the CIA come to arrest Poldark, Glaze, Larry, Creel and the rest of Poldark’s team. Colton asks Glaze if the handcuffs were too tight and pushes him out. Bob then marries Gillian.

Box office

In its first weekend, in the US, The Spy Next Door made $9,726,056 in 2,924 theaters, opening at #6. It grossed $12,877,043 over the four-day period, ranking #5 on that term. It has grossed $42,402,765 to date already making it a minor commercial success.

Critical reception

The film was generally panned by critics.It holds a “Rotten” 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 78 reviews with an average score of 3.6/10.On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating of 0–100 top reviews from mainstream critics, it holds an average score of 27% based on 21 reviews.

Most film critics targeted the film for “lacking a script”such as Michael Phillips of The Chicago Tribune for being “True Lies without the striptease or the Arab-maiming”and Kyle Smith of The New York Post who also claimed the film is “ripping off True Lies.”

Lael Loewenstein of Variety gave the film a negative review saying the film’s “cartoonish jokes and misfired gags are likely to elicit more eye rolls than laughs.”Daniel Eagan of The Hollywood Reporter also disliked the film saying most of the film is “pretty tired stuff from ‘Pacifier’-style slapstick to comic relief delivered by, of all people” and that Chan “seems stiff” and “clad in unattractive clothes and forced into dumbed-down situations.”David Stratton of At the Movies dismissed the film calling it “a sad viewing experience”. He added “The woeful screenplay, the mundane direction, by Brian Levant, and the indifferent acting all combine to sink a stupid plot which should never have got off the ground.”Nonetheless, Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film 2? stars.Rickey, giving the film the benefit of the doubt, wrote “The plot may be forgettable, but the execution is frantic and funny. The Spy Next Door is a movie that will bring smiles to kids – and their grandparents.”

Home media

The Spy Next Door was released for DVD and Blu-ray on May 18, 2010.