Wasabi

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</B></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>                </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id361.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Great Web Sites</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> Wasabi</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="501" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1903 WIDTH="495"><bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B> </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Wingdings 2" ><B>êêê</B></FONT><B>  </B> </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By Lee Shoquist</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Prolific French filmmaker Luc Besson must be the hardest working man in the action/thriller/comedy/B-movie biz today.  His two most recent forays into international action cinema, <I>The Transporter</I> (opening Oct. 11) and <I>Wasabi</I>, fit his slick, off-center brand of laughs and thrills to a "T." And though both films have been co-written and produced by him, while helmed by different directors, they arrive with mixed results, <I>Wasabi</I>, edging out the more traditional <I>The Transporter</I> with its sweet tone and nuanced performances. </div> <bR> <div> <I>Wasabi </I>reunites Reno and Besson following their 1994 film, <I>The Professional</I>, and the similarities are thinly veiled.  Again we have a sullen, lonely man with a predisposition for violence.  And once again, through a spirited young woman, he learns to open his closed-off life while protecting her from a gang of creeps.   </div> <bR> <div> In this version of the story, Humbert (Reno), is a macho cop who talks with his fists and ends up on suspension when he accidentally injures the police chief's son in a bust-up at a local disco.  Almost immediately, he learns that his long lost love, Miko, has died in Tokyo, where an inheritance awaits.  Upon traveling to Tokyo, a big surprise awaits: a nineteen-year-old daughter named Yumi (pop singer Ryoko Hirosue) with a penchant for shopping, dancing and otherwise outrageous behavior.  As if this forced reconciliation weren't enough, she's being pursued by a gang of Japanese mobsters who will stop at nothing to bilk her considerable inheritance.  Aided by French Intelligence agent and former best friend Maurice (Michael Muller, in a fabulous comic performance), along with an arsenal of weapons, Humbert dodges the mafia while trying to keep Yumi safe and uncover the mystery of Miko's secret life.  </div> <bR> <div> In the loopy action of <I>Wasabi</I>'s opening sequence, Reno steps comfortably into his stock and trade as a fist-talking Parisian cop who dispatches a gang of flamboyant bank robbers.  But then an elegant Carole Bouquet enters the film as Reno's long-suffering girlfriend of sorts, and it's apparent that the film has another agenda in store - to humanize Reno, give him some different comic and sensitive shadings, to pause briefly from the usual hail of bullets and fisticuffs, showing us the soft-touch of an actor known for his tough façade. </div> <bR> <div> Along the way, we're introduced to a generic set of Japanese mobsters, several throwaway plot developments regarding the mother's connected past, some minor action and some major comedy.  In fact, as high-octane thrillers go, <I>Wasabi</I> just about doesn't pass the test - it's relatively laid-back.  In an age where we've come to expect each new action thriller to be one stunt-topping festival after another, the film is content to diffuse its fairly minor action scenes with a funny and, at times, touching portrait of an unlikely father and daughter coming together under most unusual circumstances.  So in my book, "Wasabi" is a delightful surprise.  </div> <bR> <div> What sets this film apart are three terrific performances that really have no business being so good in this particular film.  Reno, always an ace with his tough-guy persona, adds other dimensions to his performance that resonate with funny, bittersweet effect.  Hirosue, who apparently suffered from a mental disorder during the shoot, which left her given to some pretty strange behavior, translates the manic energy into an endearingly shrill performance, giving rise to the climax with some affecting moments.  And the wild card in the bunch is the ace support of Muller, handling a nothing role with comic aplomb.  </div> <bR> <div> Director Gerard Krawczyk mines the material for its comic possibilities, and there are four terrific sequences:  a hospital room destroyed by an inadvertent chain reaction; an inventive department store thug dispatch; a dance sequence in the middle of an arcade; and a fashion show in a hotel suite, underscored by a weapons tutorial in an adjacent room.  These scenes are joyous and indicative of the film's buoyant spirit.  </div> <bR> <div> With its neon-lit, candy-colored cinematography and its throbbing techno score by Besson regular Eric Serra, what <I>Wasabi</I> adds up to, I suppose, is a small measure of fun - nothing more, nothing less.  I certainly don't want to oversell its merits by suggesting that it lands too far above the average action film.  But there are some very nice things going on in this film, and it's worth mentioning that the action and violence that occurs in the film is silly and good-hearted (yes, even though there are guns involved), not sadistic, and generally pretty cartoony and designed for laughs.   </div> <bR> <div> But Reno and Hirosue share some effective dramatic moments together, including a touching revelation and a poignant, bittersweet parting.  The final scene, set in that most sentimental of locations - an airport departure terminal - caught me by surprise.  Here's a light comic action thriller, and out of left field there's a rather graceful father/daughter parting.  There's real acting heat in these moments, the kind which elevates this film to something much better than deserves to languish on the B-movie shelf, where "Wasabi" will inevitably gather dust after a brief theatrical run.  </div> <bR> <div> 94 minutes</div> <div> Not Rated </div> <div> Violence, Language</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="621" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> Lee Shoquist © 2002</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> <A HREF="mailto:leeshoquist@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:leeshoquist@aol.com"><U><U>Leeshoquist.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>