Wasabi (2001)

43% of critics liked it
(42 reviews)
68% of users liked it
(12,111 ratings)

A cop from the city of lights finds adventure and romance in the Land of the Rising sun in this thriller. Hubert (Jean Reno) is a detective with the French police force who's the kind of cop who doesn't let little details get in the way of catching crooks -- and isn't afraid to speak with his fists… More A cop from the city of lights finds adventure and romance in the Land of the Rising sun in this thriller. Hubert (Jean Reno) is a detective with the French police force who's the kind of cop who doesn't let little details get in the way of catching crooks -- and isn't afraid to speak with his fists if talking doesn't do the job. When Hubert gets in a dust-up with an innocent bystander while trying to apprehend a group of bank robbers, he learns the passerby was the son of the Chief of Police -- and Hubert is put on suspension for two months. Just as Hubert wonders what to do for the next 60 days, he learns that an old flame has died; 19 years ago, he was sent to Tokyo on assignment, and fell in love with a woman named Miko. Even though Hubert hadn't seen Miko in years, he was the sole beneficiary named in her will, and Hubert goes to Tokyo to sort out her effects. Once in Japan, Hubert meets Miko's daughter Yumi (Ryoko Hirosue), who doesn't think much of Hubert and appears to be unaware that he is her biological father. As Hubert tries to bond with Yumi, he examines the facts behind Miko's death and begins to suspect her death was no accident, and with the help of his buddy Momo (Michel Muller), he tries to find out the truth about her death. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: Gérard Krawczyk
Written By: Luc Besson
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense, Comedy

In Theaters: Sep 27, 2001 Wide
On DVD: Feb 11, 2003
Studio: Columbia Pictures

Critic Reviews

Judith Prescott, Hollywood Reporter
The movie fails to live up to the sum of its parts.
Matt Weitz, Dallas Morning News
The film is a contrivance, as artificial as the video games Japanese teens play in a nightclub sequence, but it's an enjoyable one.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Reno does what he can in a thankless situation, the film ricochets from humor to violence and back again, and Ryoko Hirosue makes us wonder if she is always like that.
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Like being trapped inside a huge video game, where exciting, inane images keep popping past your head and the same illogical things keep happening over and over again.
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
One scarcely needs the subtitles to enjoy this colorful action farce.
Jonathan Curiel, San Francisco Chronicle
A silly, cross-cultural shoot-'em-up -- the sort of movie that will work for those with some time to kill.
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
There's little tension as Reno's character is one of those invincible heroes that we haven't seen much of since the '80s.
Oz, eFilmCritic.com
I keep renting Jean Reno films and I'm beginning to forget why I started doing so.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...as far as action flicks go, you could do worse.
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
Action star (and fine dramatic actor) Jean Reno has fallen prey to the Action Comedy conceit and the result is the periodically entertaining, generally tiresome Wasabi.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A moronic action/comedy film.
Jurgen Fauth, About.com
A bubbly international cocktail.
David Cornelius, eFilmCritic.com
Wasabi is one of the best times I've had lately enjoying a movie that has no regard for a plot.
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
A fast-paced, glitzy but extremely silly piece.
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone, TheMovieChicks.com
Been there, done that, liked it much better the first time around - when it was called The Professional.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Al S

A fresh, dazzling, cool, original and wickedly fun film. A outrageously funny and action-packed comedy. It has great laughs for everybody, wild action and terrific characters. Writer/producer, Luc Besson creates a wonderfully tasteful and energetic flick filled with lots of action,… More
A fresh, dazzling, cool, original and wickedly fun film. A outrageously funny and action-packed comedy. It has great laughs for everybody, wild action and terrific characters. Writer/producer, Luc Besson creates a wonderfully tasteful and energetic flick filled with lots of action, plenty of comedy and tremendous excitement. A full-throttle joy-ride from start to finish that dose not let up. Jean Reno and Michel Muller are terrific, they are a wacky and lovable buddy team. A classic action-comedy that you will love to watch again and again.
Bruce B

Jean Reno and Ryoko Hirosue are a Pair made for this movie. I'm becoming more and more an Jean Reno Fan with each movie I see him in. A great actor and plays the roll of a crooked cop to the T. This one is exciting and has a number of funny parts and the sound track would be… More
Jean Reno and Ryoko Hirosue are a Pair made for this movie. I'm becoming more and more an Jean Reno Fan with each movie I see him in. A great actor and plays the roll of a crooked cop to the T. This one is exciting and has a number of funny parts and the sound track would be enjoyable. Action throughout the film. Need to see Reno play more of these type parts and need a sequel to this one. 5 Stars
Cassandra M

Well, first off, it's got Luc Besson associated with it. That gives it promise. Then it's got one of my favourite actors in it, Jean Reno. That helps it deliver. Jean Reno is a retired French commando who has become a Paris policeman. Unfortunately, he still tends to use… More
Well, first off, it's got Luc Besson associated with it. That gives it promise. Then it's got one of my favourite actors in it, Jean Reno. That helps it deliver. Jean Reno is a retired French commando who has become a Paris policeman. Unfortunately, he still tends to use Dirty Harry techniques. This gets him suspended. Then he finds out the lost love of his life has passed away, and he is the sole person mentioned in her will, so he goes to Tokyo for the funeral. There he finds out why she left him, and... other things, about her past that he did not know. From there the movie heads off into typical Luc Besson territory, as something which should have been simple turns into something complicated. Not a film for someone looking for a brooding, deeply thoughtful flick, just a nice, fun, roller coaster. Well-cast, well-written, well-produced, and well-directed. With a stronger comic touch, it's probably the weakest of his action flicks, but, with Luc Besson, that's still better than the best of most others. If you liked The Transporter, you should enjoy this one, too.
Tsubaki S

Trying to reproduce the Leon formula "team up Jean reno with a cute little girl and make him kill people" It should work right? but here it doesn't. Way too corny and cheesy, and the girl was actually quite annoying.
Justin Y

A great combination of French and Japanese rolled into one. Not as professional as Leon: The Professional, but just as entertaining.The story turns out to be pretty good and actually drives the film, with the minimal action taking a back seat. The story… More
A great combination of French and Japanese rolled into one. Not as professional as Leon: The Professional, but just as entertaining.The story turns out to be pretty good and actually drives the film, with the minimal action taking a back seat. The story moves at a pretty quick pace as well, so there is never a dull moment. In fact, this film is only 90 minutes and I think it could have done just as good if it were longer. What really surprised me in this film is the speaking of the French language. The first 20 minutes or so takes place in Paris, before moving into Japan. Once the movie shifts to Japan the characters that interact with Jean Reno need to speak French so he can understand them. The Japanese actors that do the French speaking do it well. Especially, the lovely, Ryoko Hirosue who sounded almost fluent.This film also adds in some great humor, but just enough to keep if from becoming an over the top comedy. The mall scene when Hubert (Reno) is taking out the bad guys, but keeping it secret from his daughter Yumi (Hirosue) is just hilarious.The acting is superb. Ryoko Hirosue shows me once again that she can steal the show with her acting chops. Even away from Jean Reno. As mentioned earlier, her French was well done, and it is a smooth transition when she switches to Japanese. Jean Reno, once again pulls off a great cop/hitman character. He was born for these rolls.Once again, there isn't a whole lot of action in here, but the few sequences they do have are nicely choreographed. Just don't expect a lot of bloodshed in this film.If you are expecting an action packed shootout stay away from this. If you are looking for a good story with some great acting, good humor, and only a dash of action, then this may be your dish of wasabi.
Aaron N

Over-the-top on purpose with Reno in full cool mode throughout.
Bill C

Really like Reno as an action star, but this movie crumbles around him. This movie does have an English audio track, which does not load by default. Except for Reno who voices is own part all the other voice don?t quite match the characters. The piece meal quality of the English dub… More
Really like Reno as an action star, but this movie crumbles around him. This movie does have an English audio track, which does not load by default. Except for Reno who voices is own part all the other voice don?t quite match the characters. The piece meal quality of the English dub actually adds to the lackluster comedy in the movie. The movie joint venture between a French and Japanese production company.
alan j

great soundtrack, jean reno acting enjoyable..ryoko is soo cute..sentimental story with timely humor as well