It would be easy for me to not write a review and let you read the following line but I feel gracious tonight and so I’ll give you a little more than the following quote. Someone on IMDB said it best: this is “Quite Possibly the Greatest French-Language, English-Subtitled, Japanese Action-Comedy of All Time.” End of story!
Wasabi (2001) is what I would call one of those random ass movies that happen to go under the radar even with a huge star attached to it. Call me naïve, but I don’t know any normal person that has ever
heard of this film, and if you have, I’d give you a high five. The best way to describe this movie is by saying it is a Jackie Chan movie except without Jackie Chan and martial arts. It’s in another language, taking place somewhere in Asia (Japan), there is a comedic sidekick of some sort, and some sort of gang is involved, in this case, the Yakuza.
If it weren’t for Jean Reno I probably wouldn’t have given this movie the time of day. What I love about Jean Reno is the enormous amount of range he has. Although he plays some similar roles, he does like to mix it up. When the time comes, it is great to see him evolve as an actor, smoothly transitioning from a serious, high profile role to a nutty character in movies like The Pink Panther.
In this movie Jean Reno plays a French policeman, Hubert Fiorentini, who is great at doing his job but his methods are what you would call illegal. Although he gets the job done, his boss decides that Hubert needs to take two months off for his most recent stint in the field. I won’t tell you what he did, in case you decide to see it, but from there Jean Reno is off to Japan and eventually opens a case on the death of his old Japanese lover who left him 19 years ago.In Japan he meets up with his old partner, his newly discovered daughter, and uses his world renowned techniques (the illegal ones) to solve the mystery in a comedic fashion that will have you chuckling at the very least.
There are a few scenes in the movie that stood out to me, one where Jean Reno plays DDR (imagine that,) another where he battles people with dual wielding golf clubs, and finally one where he goes shopping with his daughter. These are just some points where Jean Reno is a complete bad ass. It may remind you of Leon the professional, although not completely to that extent. You realize this throughout certain points of the movie but his true moment is definitely at the end.
Overall, Wasabi was a fun movie that, if you can find it, may be an enjoyable watch for some or a downright disappointment for non Reno fans. If you are a fan, it is hard not to appreciate this movie. Either way, even if you don’t like it, you will definitely find yourself saying that Wasabi is “Quite Possibly the Greatest French-Language, English-Subtitled, Japanese Action-Comedy of All Time.”
Rating: A crazy, entertaining, and somewhat funny foreign film hodgepodge.
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