Sorry, this movie sucks

Admirable film.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

CIA super agent Bob Ho (Jackie Chan) has been dating Gillian (Amber Valletta) for three months. Her kids Farren (Madeline Carroll) and Ian (Will Shadley) hate him. Little Nora (Alina Foley) thinks that he's a cyborg. He is retiring for Gillian but she doesn't know his secret life. Glaze (George Lopez) is his handler and Colton James (Billy Ray Cyrus) is a fellow agent. His Russian nemesis Anton Poldark escapes from capture. While the kids snoop around in his house, Ian downloads a file from his secret computer. Poldark tracks it down and comes after Bob and the kids.There is absolutely no chemistry between Jackie Chan and Amber Valletta. The kids have better chemistry with him. Maybe they could have made up a story about him being a secret nanny instead. That's where the comedy is anyways with him as Mr. Mom. The movie almost works with him and the kids. Many comedians have mined that rich vain and Jackie could easily do that too. Also I don't know why he has to wear those glasses. It's not like he's Superman and this is his secret identity. The rest of the movie is a bunch of unfunny cartoon characters. It still has Jackie Chan doing his acrobatic fights. That's impressive at his age. With a few changes, this could have been a passable kids movie.

Possibly due to the box office success of movies like "Kindergarten Cop" and "The Pacifier", action star Jackie Chan decided to do a family movie of his own. Possibly it could have been pulled off had things like the script and the stunt work been top notch, but as it is, it's a pretty bad movie. The first problem (and one of the biggest in the movie) are the characters of the kids. They are shown to be a very unlikable bunch, mouthing off and giving anguish to their mother and Chan's character. And they stay that way for most of the movie! Eventually they come around, but it comes as too sudden and not believable. I wanted to strangle those kids!The other big problem with the movie are the action sequences. The first two-thirds of the movie are largely free of action. Yes, this is a Jackie Chan movie where there isn't emphasis on the action! And when the action does come, it's pretty flat, far from the great action found in his Hong Kong movies. I don't know if the poor quality of the action is due to Chan's advancing age, or the poor choreography by the American crew, but the action comes it's far from spectacular. I think even kids will feel cheated.To top it off, the movie ends with outtakes that are not very funny, unlike Chan's Hong Kong movies. You know, having brought up Chan's Hong Kong movies twice, I think I'll say you and your family would be better off watching one of Chan's Hong Kong movies. Yes, some of them are rated "R", but the interesting thing is that even those "R" movies are considered family entertainment in Hong Kong. If I had kids, I'd be showing them those movies instead of "The Spy Next Door"!

I had no idea a Jackie Chan movie could be so lame. I have only seen a few, and they have been ... OK. Entertaining. Neat special effects. But, folks, this is an opinion but I'm standing by it. This is a lame movie. The kids acting is just wooden. The scripting in sophomoric. The adults are coloring-book characters. The movie is just silly. I did watch the whole thing - after the first half hour, I was punishing myself for allowing myself to ... watch the first half hour. I read some other reviews about how kids would love it. There are fight scenes all through the movie. OK, there is no blood. There are no killings. But, still, there is far too much pretend violence for a preteen. I know it's fake, a 9 year old doesn't.Wow. This was a bad movie.

This is a very silly movie, but I quite enjoyed it. Jackie Chan doesn't do the crazy dangerous stunts he used to, but his brand of comedic martial arts is still entertaining. The kids are reasonably realistic, with only one being somewhat annoying precocious. There are some nice bits, like a running joke involving a criminal's wardrobe. The story doesn't make a lot of sense, especially since the McGuffin of the film would probably be far more lucrative in cleaning up the environment than for the impractical purpose the bad guys have in mind, but this movie isn't supposed to be anything more than a cute silly movie, and I thought it succeeded in that admirably.