Rating: 
Summary: Fun
Review: This is a very fun action comedy that throws together a father and daughter that didn't know each other existed. Style, culture clash, humor, and fast paced action are what make this work, as well as some fine performances.
Rating: 
Summary: Over The Top Humor...the sensitive side of "Leon"
Review: This was a solid film. A lot of people didn't care for it because they believed it to be rather hokey, to me that's what made it great. Watch it in French with English subtitles or you lose the feel of the film. Michele Muller and Ryoko Hirosue boast great cameos, but Jean Reno showed why he is one of my favorites in Hollywood these days. His role as Hubert in a dilapidated combination of rogue cop and gentleman bring's the viewer back to why "Leon" was such a fine film, Reno's acting. This was great and one that you generally find by accident, a great accident.
Rating: 
Summary: FAST AND FUNNY ACTION
Review: WASABI is a light-weight Hong Kong action film from writer/producer Luc Besson starring the always charismatic Jean Reno. High-energy hi-jinks unfold when no-nonsense Paris detective Fiorentini (Reno) is summoned to Tokyo to settle the estate of the only woman he loved. He discovers that her death was not an accident and that he's the father of a strong-willed, red-haired, Japanese teenage daughter (who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars (not yen). Oh yes, and some very, very, very bad guys want the big bucks. Terrific action set pieces deliver the pleasurable jolt of the spicy title. I liked this move a lot as a passing diversion. No profound meaning, but it sure looks great and the action rarely lets up for more than a few minutes. And there's plenty of sly wit to season the mayhem. Much better than you might first guess since you're probably wondering why you haven't heard of this title. With Reno and Besson doing their thing, it's slick and colorful and sly.
Rating:
Summary: Tough Cop Jean Reno Goes to Japan, and Becomes a Dad
Review: Wasabi is a very popular green-colored Japanese condiment served with sushi or sashimi, and those who love Japanese food must know its pungent taste. The film takes its title from this wasabi paste (which Jean Reno actually tastes in this film), suggesting the content is sharp and spicy. Jean Reno is a marverick French cop Hubert, whose way of arresting the criminals are so outrageous that he is suspended from the job by the disgruntled police chief. But when a detective like him uses a weapon like fists faster than Jackie Chan's, and golf clubs, who can really hate him? And, hey, he seems to be having a dinner tonight with no other than ever gorgeous ex-Bond girl Carole Bouquet (who appears as a cameo), Hubert has nothing to complain of. But he left a very bitter memory in Japan, which he could never shake off. And Hubert receives a ring from a lawyer telling him that his former Japanese girl-friend is dead. But the news do not end here; it turns out that she left a daughter Yumi, and appointed Hubert as her guardian in her will. Then Hubert flies to Japan, meets his daughter without telling the truth, but soon he finds that Japanese yakuza gangsters are aiming at Yumi for the unknown reasons. OK. The script of Luc Besson (who also produced through his film company Europa) is as thin as you can imagine, and the tone of the film is very light. There are many actions (including that of using games and ... er ... golf balls), but the charm of the film largely comes from understated humor of Jean Reno as laconic Hubert. He is not as cool as the assassin in "The Professional" (aka "Leon"); his relations with Yumi is not as convincing as the one with Natalie Portman. Still, the ride goes pleasantly. The film is good as pure entertainment. Some informantion about the production. Besson obviously made "Wasabi" in French and Japanese film market in mind, and he decided to use fully the potentials. So, French actor Jean Reno is called in, who is very popular in Japan (far more popular in Japan than in USA or UK, I can say) while Japanese popular actress Ryoko Hiroshue is cast as Yumi as his daughter. The director is Gerard Krawczyk, whose previous action-comedy "TAXI 2" was a huge hit in France (more than 10 millions came to the theatre in France, where the population is much smaller than in USA). So, you may call "Wasabi" a unashamed result of market research, or "product." But it is defenitely better to see good product than to watch awful art, isn't it? The film is mostly shot in Japan. You can watch briefly a temple of Kyoto (Kiyomizu Temple) and the streets of Tokyo, and will have a glimpse (just a glimpse) of how teenagers are having fun in this city (such as "game center" as we call it in downtown of Shibuya) though the film is fast enough not to indulge in showing these scenes. The film's location is not as exotic as the title implies, and its camera always focuses on the two leads, both of whom are great. I don't tell you much about super-cool Reno except that he is as good as before, and he shouldn't have been in "Rollerball." About Hirosue, you may feel that her costumes and behaviors are too spanky for a Japanese girl. In fact, some of her costumes, I admit, look too cartoon-ish, directly from Powerpuff Girls, but they are all intentional. And as a teacher in college in Japan, I can tell that her dresses are exaggerated, but not so exceptional in downtown Tokyo. And her frequent use of cell phone is nothing unusual among Japanese teenage girls. "Wasabi" is too light-weight, it is true, but it gives fun certainly. Just don't think. Enjoy yourself and that's all you have to do.
Rating: 
Summary: French or American?
Review: Wasabi, one of the latest products of Luc Besson sector. However anti-American movie fans have raised their `Yankee Go Home' banners; to my mind this comedy - action film which is harmonized with French - Japon sensibilities, can be an alternative film to American movies. Luc Besson - Jean Reno cooperation is going on. Leading character Hubert is a puncher policeman just like in American movies, ignoring legal details, fighting against the bad people. Again just like in American movies, Hubert has a chief who is complaining and shouting all the times; at the other hand he likes Hubert. Love book of Hubert is empty for 19 years, after a Japon woman has broken his heart and left him with memories, meal descriptions and a beautiful pen. Hubert has closed his love book and has focused on crime world. Then he learns that his Japan woman has died and has left him an inheritance: a daughter. Time for a Japan voyage. Just focusing on the story, it is easy to think that this film doesn't have any difference from American ones. But this film isn't an American popcorn movie; it is a French / Japan popcorn movie. There are enough big guns, rocket launchers, bombs; but the action scenes is not in American style, Hubert generally finishes his work quickly with one punch. In American movies the bullets let people fly backward for 2 meters; Hubert can fly people for 5 meters. Sense of humor which is full of small coincidences and comic events is extremely French. Lets turn to the Japan side of the film: there are many Japan people. The beautiful girl of the film is Hubert's Japan daughter Yumi. I find her very cute with her teenage gestures and phone talks beginning with `mochie, mochie'. By this film, I've surprised that there are many Japan including policemen and mobsters speaking French very well. If you want to watch a French (and a little Japan) comedy - action movie similar with American ones (but not in American style), I'll advice you this film. At worst you will lose time.
Rating: 
Summary: just a bad movie
Review: why do people even care of make these movies especially with great actors like Reno. I would like to know what Reno himself feels about this movie once he had seen it after completion. incoherent completely abnormal and pathetic story line. something between James Bond and Black Rain. This is a disaster of a movie. most directors think that if they can take the plot to Japan or Korea then every thing can be solved using the gang related plot. Well then you end up with this kind of junk movie . This is not worth watching
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