The Accidental Spy

The story is a pretty good mystery. Orphaned Buck Yuen (Chan) thwarts a bank robbery and the public recognition leads his long-lost father, now dying of cancer, to find him. The father leaves Buck some clues to what may be his real inheritance, but there are bad guys on the chase too. The search for more clues involves technology, namely the Internet, making The Accidental Spy a modern thriller, and secrets of the father's business dealings carry weighty undertones as well.

Jackie Chan again shows his prowess at turning minutiae into comic props. First, giving a home gym demo, he does some sweet, graceful moves on a bouncy ball. He stages a fight in an elevator, using freight crates, his tie and a passenger as props. The man knows how to use a hospital room too, though she should have yelled "Clear!" when he shocked the bad guy's face with those paddles.

Accidental Spy is quite a well made film too, with tight editing used to tell the story visually. The music matches Who Am I?'s pulsating intensity in action scenes, though it's by different composers, and other mysterious and cultural motifs based on the film's diverse locales. It's ominous where appropriate and funny where necessary. The overall effect is a classic Jackie Chan movie full of wild, slapstick action with additional hints of poignancy.

The Accidental Spy