(2002)

review by:

6-18-03

Written by: Luc Besson Directed by: Gerard Krawczyk Starring: Jean Reno, Michel Muller, Ryoko Hirosue

Hubert Fiorentini is an ace French cop who must travel to Japan to settle his ex-wife's estate. Along with her personal affects though is the last thing he ever expected to find: a 19-year-old daughter! Now, Hubert must protect his daughter, Yumi, for the next few days until she becomes a legal adult, all while battling the Yakuza, dealing with teenage angst, and bustin' a move on Dance Dance Revolution (seriously, I'm not making this up). Once again, just as in The Professional, we find Jean Reno taking in a young female sidekick and saving her from the criminals who seek to kill her. But that is where the similarity ends. Luc Besson, who also wrote as well as directed The Professional, takes us in a much more comical and action-oriented direction, more akin to The Fifth Element (written and directed by Besson as well). The end result is a genuinely funny movie with groin-grabbingly good action sequences that prove Jean Reno to be the best action star on both sides of the Atlantic. Everything about this movie is just plain wonderful. The directing is great, the story is compelling and humorous, and one doesn't need to speak French or Japanese to know that the acting is great too. Sure, this movie's no Oscar contender, and most of the action scenes really stretch the limits of believability (every shot from Hubert's gun sends the bad guys flying back about 50 feet). But let's be honest; no one watches action movies for their believability. We watch them for entertainment value alone, and this movie has plenty of that. Wasabi is a great movie to just sit back and let wash over you, and we can all use those kinds of movies from time to time. Unlike its sushi-bar-condiment counterpart, this Wasabi won't leave you with a bitter aftertaste.

AKA: The Professional 2: Leon vs. The Yakuza          French Men Can't Dance

Rating