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(4) THE SPY NEXT DOOR with Jackie Chan, Amber Valetta, Billy Ray Cyrus, George Lopez, Madeline Carroll, Will Shadley, Alina Foley. Directed by Brian Levant (Ster Kinekor, The Bridge).
ACTOR Jackie Chan once again lives up to his action hero status in his latest family comedy The Spy Next Door.
Agent Bob Ho (Chan) is on loan to the Central Intelligence Agency. He is a spy by night and a boring pen importer by day.
Chan provides his action- packed high-energy stunts as usual but the dialogue is too predictable for adult viewers.
The movie is good entertainment for children – although, some material is not suitable for all ages.
Ho decides to give up his career and marry his next-door neighbour girlfriend Gillian (Amber Valetta) but finds that baby-sitting her three annoying children, Farren (Madeline Carroll), Ian (Will Shadley) and Nora (Alina Foley) is tougher than any other dangerous mission he has been on.
He soon learns that winning them over is not that easy.
After Ho’s final assignment as a spy, he is hurled back into the field by an unexpected turn of events – he has to fight for Gillian’s love and save her children. An unexpected spy crops up in the movie – country singer Billy Ray Cyrus (of Achy Breaky Heart fame) playing Colton James. Colton is Ho’s trusted spy and Glaze (comedian George Lopez) is his CIA boss.
The main villains, Magnus Scheving and Katherine Boecher’s imitations of Russians were horrible.
Director Brian Levant (Are We There Yet?, Snow Dogs and The Flintstones) focuses too much on filming inside Gillian’s house, which makes for dull scenes – so watching action unfold later at an old factory, hotel and trips to school provides some visual refreshment.
The blooper reel, which plays at the end of the credits of the movie, shows the flawed lines and the flurry of blundered stunts – which is always amusing . – Reviewed by Shaanaaz de Jager ARTS CORRESPONDENT
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