Tweekums Hubert Fiorentini is a Parisian cop with a reputation for violence; after he hospitalises the police chief's son his boss insists that he takes some time off. Not long afterwards he gets a phone call from Japan, where he had previously been assigned. The woman who walked out on him nineteen years previously has died and left him everything. On arriving in Tokyo he learns that he has a daughter, Yumi, who hasn't been told who he is… and given that her mother told her that she was the result of a rape, so that she wouldn't seek him out, he has no immediate intention of telling her. He hasn't been there long when he realises that her mother was actually a victim of foul play. He then learns that Yumi's bank account, which he has control of until her twentieth birthday in two days' time, contains two hundred million US dollars! She took it off the Yakuza and they want it back.Anybody expecting something gritty will soon be disappointed as the opening scene shows just how over the top things are going to be as Hubert punches a suspect who then flies across the room. If however you enjoy things like the 'Taxi' films then this should be just the thing for you. The plot is fairly simple but that is okay as there is no doubt about who the bad guys are; the only real question is how Hubert will get the better of them. Jean Reno does a fine job as Hubert, playing it straight even during the more unlikely moments, Ryôko Hirosue was a lot of fun as 'Genki Girl' Yumi and Michel Muller provided more obvious comedy as Hubert's former colleague Maurice 'Momo'. The Japanese setting is interesting without feeling the need to show off important sights. It is a little surprising how just about everybody Hubert meets in Japan appears to speak perfect French though; given that this isn't meant to be serious that didn't bother me though. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anybody wanting some good silly fun.These comments are based on watching the film in French with English subtitles.

Leofwine_draca WASABI is a difficult film to describe. It's like a comedy version of LEON, but then it's not. It's a French film, but most of it is set in Japan and it's about the Japanese. It has action, but it's not an action film. I guess this would best be described as a quirky comedy. I usually hate comedies, but I loved this one, so that's saying something. The biggest draw is the presence of Jean Reno playing a tough, sentimental cop. The role seems to have been written for him, because it fits him like a glove, and he's absolutely superb. His comic timing is impeccable and the way he underplays the humour could teach the likes of Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers a thing or two.In the film, Reno is forced to hang around with a Japanese girl, played by the equally excellent Ryoko Hirosue. This unlikely collaboration is the subject of plenty of laughs as we witness Reno forced to go shopping and hang out at an arcade, where he has a go on a dance mat (for me, the film's highlight). There are some Japanese Yakuza thrown in too, but the action scenes are played for laughs rather than thrills; we witness Reno taking them out in a clothing store and using a golf club to cause some serious pain. Reno is effortlessly cool throughout this, and Michel Muller, as his comic foil, is also surprisingly funny. Things end with a big bank heist climax, which isn't perfect but still fun.In essence, this is what happens when a good script is paired with fine actors. The laughs are genuine rather than forced, and even the more surreal touches – like Reno's opponents flying through the air when he punches them – work without becoming irritating. I rate this one highly.

MartinHafer This is an interesting film that abruptly changes pace--something that occasionally pays off well, while other times it doesn't. The film begins with Jean Reno playing a Dirty Harry-type cop in France. His answer to every problem seems to be punching people in the face or shooting them. For some inexplicable reason(!), his bosses aren't particularly happy with his methods and suspend him. Then, completely out of the blue, he finds out what happened to his long-lost Japanese wife--she just recently died and her lawyer has contacted Reno about the will. When he arrives in Japan, in addition to being the executor of the will, he also finds out he's been a father for the 19 years since his wife vanished. Now, with a "kooky" new daughter in tow, they are off on some violent adventures.As for the daughter, she was fine later in the film, but at first she really came off as an obnoxious person and it was hard to see how Reno could resist punching her, as well! Fortunately, this very clichéd bouncy young girl finally began acting believably as the film shifted into overdrive. This shift was when the Yakuza (like the Japanese mob) show up and seem eager to kill Reno and his kooky kid! Throughout all this, Reno is mesmerizing. He's a fine actor and here he carries the entire film. The problem, aside from the distracting girl, is that oddly someone thought it was important to dub this film into English. With Reno, it wasn't so bad--he did his own dubbing since he speaks English so well. But as for most everyone else, they were lousy voice actors--most of the Frenchmen sounded just like Americans. Also, it just made no sense why most of the Japanese people spoke English most of the time. As for me, I always prefer a subtitled film. Still, despite these shortcomings, this is a very good action and father-daughter film--worth your time especially for Reno's seemingly effortless performance.

kooleshwar There was a time when Luc Besson's name in any place on the movies cover ensured super entertainment off-late besides Bandidas which was brilliant his name ensures movies that are OK or just better..Anyway the lure of his name was to strong and I was in a mood for a little risk and I ended up renting this movie (this is in fact a good risk movie (any avid movie renter would understand).The first thing that strikes you about the movie is the dubbing, in parts it borders on pathetic and those who have seen other french dubbed movies will recognise the pathetic dubbing as hallmarks of many other French movies that have not been released in a big way...But I did see TAXI with similar pathetic if not worse dubbing and that movie was brilliant, this movie is unfortunately not good enough to get over this huge hindrance..........I REALLY FEEL YOU ARE MUCH BETTER OF WATCHING THIS MOVIE IN FRENCH WITH SUBTITLES.The entire cast does a fine job, Jay Reano plays the wooden protagonists with well rehearsed ease, I wonder when we will get to him in a different role, Momo plays the goofy sidekick with hilarious results, and the Japenese Girl plays her stereotypical part effectively.The story is to simple and the Japan angle has been completely wasted, for all practical purposes this movie could have been based anywhere in the world.There was however many one liners that displayed intelligence and understanding of Japenese stereotypes if nothing else.Some of the jokes are hilarious the first holdup scene, the signature Wasabi scene, the interview with the superintendent etc etc.This movie is crammed full of one liners that are hilarious in both the subtitles and the bad dubbing.What i did realise eventually was that this movie was in essence a COMEDY WITH A LITTLE ACTION AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. Those who don't get the point (like me for a long time) will be disappointed with this movie, this movie is a comedy and the action reflects this,WATCHING THIS AS A COMEDY MUCH LIKE BANDIDAS WILL ENSURE SUCCESS.This movie has some unclear moments like the daughter modeling, the old flame etc that were neither here nor there.The action like I said is comic and can be compared to any other comedy action like Jackie Chan etc.The soundtrack (i assume) and background score is pretty good especially the Japanese music, one of the only scenes that exploited the Japan angle successfully was the Video game Dancing Scene which succeeded a great deal due to the music.Direction cinematography was Strictly OK and this movie showed nothing out of the ordinary.Fans of Luc will need to realise that this indeed a comedy and less violent then his other films.Im sure betting dubbing and some better action could have made this movie much better even after factoring expectations.IN ALL A SIMPLE NO-NONSENSE COMEDY WITH ACTION, that can be enjoyed if its watched with an open mind.-s PATHETIC DUBBING, japan angle not exploited,so so action +/-s unclear scenes, another stereotypical Jay Reno performance.+s hilarious one liners, many really funny scenes, short and sweettotal 6/10 (absolute and factoring in expectations, if watched as a comedy could score more)