A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
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Positive Messages
a little
The importance of friendship and teamwork. Honesty. The pursuit of knowledge and the understanding of the universe is a lifelong journey.
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Positive Role Models
a little
Passapartout is a fully-developed character instead of being a collection of bad and outdated Asian stereotypes. Women are shown to be just as brave and strong as men in a variety of martial arts fight scenes.
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Violence & Scariness
some
Martial arts violence. Fighting with swords and spears. Gunshots. Pratfall violence: a corrupt police officer sent to catch Fogg gets hit in the head and groin and injured in a variety of ways. Rope to groin, hot water to groin. Knife throwing, one knife lands in the crotch of a painting of a man in the room.
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Sex, Romance & Nudity
very little
Fogg mutters sexual innuendo in a Turkish palace, and later when a character falls and lands on the arm of a statue with his groin.
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Language
a little
"Hell." Some instances of sexual innuendo: When visiting a Turkish king who is surrounded by women playing musical instruments, Fogg makes reference to "pluck[ing] notes," as a man has fallen on the arm of a statue and scoots along it with his crotch, Fogg says, "I don't think he's doing it on purpose.
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Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
a little
Characters drink shots of liquor, act drunk. Champagne drinking.
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Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Around the World in 80 Days is a 2004 adaptation of the Jules Verne novel. There is a lot of slapstick-, cartoon-, and action-style violence, including many crotch injuries, but no one is seriously hurt. Characters use mild bad language ("bloody hell"). There is some crude and vulgar humor, including bathroom jokes, drunkenness played for comedy, a weird cross-dressing joke, and a comic situation involving a man with many wives. One man who is imprisoned in a box for urinating in public is later shown, after being freed, on the verge of pulling his pants down and urinating in public once again. Rather than being a sidekick or a bad Asian stereotype, Jackie Chan portrays his character as someone just as vivid and intelligent as Phileas Fogg, and unlike so many martial arts movies, women are shown to be just as brave, strong, and skilled as men in the fight scenes. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
What's the Story?
This retelling of Jules Verne's classic novel centers on Lau Xing (Jackie Chan), valet to inventor Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan). The previous valet quit because he refused to test any more of Fogg's wild contraptions. Xing, on the run after stealing a valuable jade Buddha from the Bank of London, thinks the police will not find him if he's working for Fogg, so he pretends to be French and gives his name as "Passepartout." Fogg's bet with the peppery Lord Kelvin (James Broadbent) that he cannot circle the globe in 80 days provides Xing with the perfect cover for getting to China as quickly as possible to return the Buddha to his small town. There are a lot of stops in exotic locations and a lot of adventures involving obstacles to reaching the next stage of the journey and a few surprising cameo appearances, including Arnold Schwarzenegger as a sybaritic king.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how transportation has changed since the novel was written -- how many days would it take to circle the globe today?
What would be the challenges in adapting a novel first published in 1873 and making it something fresh for contemporary audiences?
There are some scenes in which Fogg mutters off-color one-liners. Are these necessary for the movie? Do you think it's something put in to make the movie more enjoyable for adult audiences?
Movie Details
- In theaters: June 18, 2004
- On DVD or streaming: November 2, 2004
- Cast: Jackie Chan, Jim Broadbent, Steve Coogan
- Director: Frank Coraci
- Inclusion Information: Asian actors
- Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
- Genre: Family and Kids
- Topics: Adventures, Book Characters
- Run time: 120 minutes
- MPAA rating: PG
- MPAA explanation: violence, some crude humor and mild language
- Last updated: February 17, 2023
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