Ever been offered $7 million to steal a baby? Yeah me too..
Well this movie revolves around three guys who were, and decided to take up the offer! It’s a funny and action packed comedy with Jackie Chan made in 2006 called Robin B Hood.
The movie revolves around 3 main characters who also happen to be very skilled thieves:
Thongs, played by Jackie Chan, usually gets away with a small fortune alongside his buddy Octopus. The problem is that Thongs blows his money by gambling constantly and losing before borrowing more money accumlating some bad debt, which attracts the attention of some dangerous men. His family and especially his father have disowned him due to how he makes his living. Despite all of this he is a very moral character.
Octopus, played by Louis Koo, is another money waster. He buys junk and flashy cars he can’t afford the payments on in order to woo rich girls and get them into bed. Meanwhile, he has a (gorgeous) wife at home is pregnant. A total prick, he neglects and treats her like crap, instructing her to get an abortion. His ignorance toward women and lack of money management always see him, like Thongs, scratching for more cash.
Landlord, played by Michael Hui, is older and taught Octopus and Thongs everything they know, but instead of blowing his cash, he stashes it away in a safe and has a large bundle of $3 million saved for retirement. His wife is a little crazy, always carrying around a small baby doll she calls her son. Unfortunately, Landlord has been robbed and has lost everything.
Naturally, all 3 men are desperate for cash and have none to their name when Landlord is offered the job – steal this baby form a wealthy family and deliver to his grandfather. Before landlord can even explain the job, both Octopus and Thongs cheer loudly and the three head to job site. It’s not until they leave that Thong and Octopus realize that the job was to steal a baby. Despite their objections they leave and Landlord is forced to leave the child with Octopus and Thongs.
When a roadblock prevents them from delivering the child, with Landlord taking a fall and being locked up for reckless driving, Octopus and Thong play Ma and Pa to the baby and develop a parental instinct. But The grandfather’s men start to pop up to try and steal the baby from the two men. Naturally they put up an entertaining fight!
A bit of a mixed film
This film is an action movie mixed with some light comedy before getting really (a bit too) serious, all the while the parental theme becomes pretty strong throughout.
The movie is pretty standard for Jackie Chan, with his style of comedy and utilizes many of his usual techniques – such as when Inspector Steve Mok (Yuen Biao) arrives and the gangsters pretend to be Thongs’ cousins as they run around hiding the baby, switching from room to room barely missing the Inspector’s eye. It’s all done pretty well and makes for some good laughs.
One of my only complaints is the overly dramatic ending which takes a normal light hearted comedy to a level of extremity which really kills the balance a bit. Even the severely harsh way Octopus treats his wife is a little over the top when a simple “I’m busy with my ‘job’ courting females” would have been bad enough as opposed to him telling her to get an abortion, and that she’s suffocating him before telling her to go away and catch a bus home. The drama was a little ‘try-hard’ in my opinion.
But overall the movie is not bad, and the baby situation sets up for some funny moments (beware, lots of shitty nappies) and outrageous stunts and action.
The Action & Martial Arts
As usual there is a high level of action and Jackie was no slouch in this film!
Right from the very beginning we see Jackie Chan and Louis Koo deliver a physical performance when they are chased out of the hospital they’re robbing, using their physical talents to evade capture by security.
As usual the best action is shown when the men go after both Octopus and Thongs, and we see them forced to use their talents. Even Yuen Biao showcases some awesome fighting moves early in the film, which I was hoping to see.
A good balance of dangerous stunts and fights make up most of the action earlier in the film, but the fighting gets kicked up a notch at the end of the film. The final fight is the longest lasting of the film and is absolutely packed with precisely performed stunts and incredibly fast and acrobatic fight moves. Of course they make good use of their environment in true Jackie Chan style.
This movie offers some high quality action on the Jackie Chan scale.
The Verdict?
A good movie, although a little mixed. The real value is in the action and some of the baby antics. A good addition to Jackie’s filmography and worth the watch!
On Blu Ray –
Region A (US & Canada)
Robin-B-Hood [Blu-Ray]
Region B (UK, Australia, New Zealand, Europe etc)
Robin B Hood [Blu-ray]
On DVD –
Region 1 (US & Canada)
Robin B Hood
Region 2 (UK, Europe, etc)
Robin B Hood [DVD] [2006]
