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It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

When the film started playing, my expectations were as high as they get with seeing a Jackie Chan be the most neighborly man in history with helping out with taking out the trash. But the moment he went into the Pen Distribution Center and BRC and George Lopez appear as spies, I knew this film was meant for me.The film portrays a retiring Jackie Chan in a victory lap of a film. Although viewed as a prime stuntman and action director in Asia, Jackie's image in the United States and modern film cannon has not been able to shake the image from the Rush Hour films.This metaimage parallels with his depiction in the film as suburban, sweater-wearing "geek" pen importer. An image which was more-so pushed onto the superstar image of Jackie Chan than imparted onto himself. And though it is important to recognize that the acceptance of this image from Chan is a large reason why he is even discussed in modern film and popular culture, it is also vital to recognize the platform which Jackie Chan has crafted by his own doing. A unique genre and character. "What you call boring, I call dependable." Words from the mother of the film echo fans of Chan's directorial work AND his modern films, seeing the incredible impact he has made in the film industry. His uniqueness was often observed as a shtick, incredible stunts which were only passed by Chan's physical age. As his career progressed, his stunt work was seen as more cheesy and expected. The films character type asks for the audience to look further into the stories of those we expect the less from. We may anticipate that we understand those who we live around and grew up with. With Chan's work, we are as short-sighted as the children waiting in the mini-van, debating how Johnny is a drone or a cyborg. We cannot stay in the parked minivan, debating the identity of the people outside the car just looking at their outer image. We must dig deeper as an audience, and understand that the superstar career's such as Chan's are made by people just like us, no matter how indestructible Jackie Chan's stunts have made him seem to be.Timelessness is not only something which can be determined and understood at first viewing. Timelessness requires close inspection, and a relationship with those who are meant to be timeless. As an audience, we dig deeper, and prior to critique, understand the people behind the films.

In this movie, Jackie Chan has decided to be nicer and more caring - and has somewhat succeeded as there are no dead bodies visible. However, its plot has several weaknesses, untrustworthy scenes as well as evil characters, above all. Thus, one shouldn't take this as a spy movie or thriller, but a family movie with gripping moments. Apparently, the filmmakers wanted to widen possible audience on account of minors.Jackie Chan and all the child actors give very fine performances, the rest (especially the evil ones) are too bizarre and clichéd - perhaps deliberately depicted so. And it is amazing that Chan still does not use stunts (and he was 54 during the filming); and here, those fighting and chasing scenes are just appropriate, neither dominating nor too lengthy as in some of Chan-movies. I can't see why this movie cannot be in the same category as Home Alone or Spy Kids. A pleasant entertainment!

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"!

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.