“(2001) Jean Reno, Ryoko Hirosue. When his former lover dies, a French policeman travels to Tokyo to take care of his estranged daughter. Comedy Drama” Well, I think enough of Jean Reno and writer Luc Besson to at last sample any of their movies and this was the oldest thing left on my TiVo stack–what’s a Friday afternoon for anyway? And boy, I’m glad I watched!
Wasabi is a funny, well-done action comedy sort of like Rush Hour except set in Japan and with dialog in French. Plus a little Japanese but at least for the French the film had subtitles. No biggie, since most of the movie is in the action and the dialog is mostly for laughs. Worth it, though, because the laughs are pretty decent although not quite the sideslappers that Jackie Chan had.
Besson is pretty prolific scriptwriter–he fit Wasabi in between The Transporter and Kiss of the Dragon–but he always seems to do well with Reno in hand. Reno is big and bulky, not given to graceful martial arts though quite good with his fists and a gun, and surprisingly adept at delivering straight lines to the funny men. Hirosue is just adorable, especially the red hair, and she provides the emotional weight for the film.
Recommended
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