Around the World in 80 Days (2004 film)

Around the World in 80 Days is a 2004 American action adventure comedy film directed by Frank Coaraci and based on the Jules Verne novel of the same name and the 1956 film of the same name. The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures. The film was released on June 16th, 2004 and was infamous for failing at the box office.

Plot
Inventor Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan) is challenged to a bet made by Lord Kelvin (Jim Broadbent) in which he must travel the world in 80 days. Accompanied by his valet Passepartout (Jackie Chan) and aspiring impressionist Monique Laroche (Cécile de France), Fogg travels around the globe, getting into various adventures and situations along the way.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The idea of adding a lot of original content in the film is somewhat questionable as most book based films use elements from the book while using slight originality.
 * 2) The humor is nothing more but poorly done slapstick that tries too hard to be like Mr. Bean or the 30’s comedy shorts.
 * 3) * Not to mention, the film also uses a lot of anachronistic humor.
 * 4) Even ignoring the fact that the film detracts from the source material, The story is poorly put together and barely makes any sense at all.
 * 5) * Not to mention, the questionable choice to racebend Passeportout from a European into an Asian in which the film even butchers Passeportout’s character by having him using that name as a fake name and that his real name is actually “Lau Xing”.
 * 6) * Not satisfied with that, also racebends Aouda from an Indian woman into a French woman named Monique Laroche.
 * 7) The characters aren't represented well in the slightest.
 * 8) Pretty bad acting, even for famous actors like Jackie Chan and Steve Coogan, as Chan always screams out loud at times while Cécile de France‘s character always has inconsistent acting.
 * 9) * Not to mention, some of the characters are extremely miscast, with Arnold Schwarzenegger being the worst offender since he plays the Turkish prince
 * 10) Unnecessary fighting scenes that look like they're from another film with Jackie Chan, despite the fact that it’s an adaptation of a Jules Verne book.
 * 11) Offensive stereotypes, like Passeportout’s grandmother that always keeps forcing Mr. Fogg to drink
 * 12) The movie somewhat feels like it’s ripping off Rat Race due to the movie’s tone and also the similarity of the humor.
 * 13) While wacky and funny, the transitions are quite out of place in a film adaption of a book and would’ve fitted better for an animated film.
 * 14) Strangely, Phileas Fogg is the main comic relied character when it should’ve been Passeportout since in the book, he was the comic relief.

Good Qualities

 * 1) The CGI effects look really decent and are nice to look at despite the mediocre intro.
 * 2) * The transitions are also good despite being out of place.
 * 3) At least it somewhat follows the book's plot.
 * 4) The soundtrack is beautifully well composed thanks to Trevor Jones and David A. Stewart.

Reception
The film was met with mixed to negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 32% approval rating, based on 128 reviews, with an average score of 4.79/10, with the site's consensus stating: "Hit-and-miss family fare that bears only the slightest resemblance to Verne's novel." Metacritic gives the film a weighted score of 49 out of 100, based on reviews from 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

The Guardian critic Rob Mackie, criticized it for having little to no resemblance to the novel it is based on. Roger Ebert praised it for its visual style and for being "goofy fun". Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote: "Takes plenty of liberties with the material and never generates much genuine excitement, but provides an agreeable ride without overloading it with contemporary filmmaking mannerisms." In 2014, the Los Angeles Times listed the film as one of the most expensive box office flops of all time.

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