Movie Talk - The Rush Hour Movies

Well, I’ve gotten to the final post for this themed month. I knew that I was planning on watching some Jackie Chan movies, but I didn’t know where else to go. Suddenly, Chris Tucker busted into the room, talked with that voice of his for a few minutes, and threw the Rush Hour Trilogy into my face. Okay, that actually didn’t happen, but that sounds better than me remembering that I haven’t talked about these movies yet!

The first Rush Hour movie is what probably made me aware of Jackie Chan. It was either that or Rumble in the Bronx. It also made me aware of Chris Tucker who I really wasn’t watching when I was young. Rush Hour was released in 1998, Rush Hour 2 came out in 2001, and Rush Hour 3 was released after a six-year wait in 2007. Al three of them were directed by Brett Ratner and were a financial success. I only saw them at home when they were released on video/DVD. It’s a series that I’ve been meaning to get back to. So, do these movies hold up now in 2020? Well… yay and nay.

Rush Hour

The movie also stars Tom Wilkinson, Tzi Ma, Ken Leung, and Elizabeth Pena. In the first movie, Jackie Chan plays Inspector Lee, a Hong Kong officer who’s also the bodyguard for the Chinese consul. He gets summoned to Los Angeles when the consul’s daughter, Soo Yung, is kidnapped by the Chinese crime lord, Juntao. The FBI don’t want Lee getting in their way, so they get a reckless LAPD detective named James Carter to run interference on Lee. Carter and Lee don’t hit it off at first, but they want to work the case and save Soo Yung. Lee and Carter go at it alone and hijinks ensue. Also, a whole lotta butt is kicked.

I don't know how long Chris Tucker got on for using the wrong leg. Not bad, though.

I don’t know why I haven’t seen this movie in so long. It’s a freakin’ blast. While the story is fine, Chan’s and Tucker’s chemistry completely carry this thing. Inspector Lee’s the serious cop who’s proper, and Detective Carter is the rambunctious one. They both bounce off each other pretty well. The humor works pretty well. I think this is another one my quotable movies.  I also thought that Tucker was probably at his funniest here.

As for the action scenes, there were pretty good. Chan isn’t as spry like he is in some of his older movies, but he still gets down. The fight in the pool hall is probably my favorite of the bunch. The action scene in the restaurant and The final action scene were also pretty cool. I don’t have too many negatives for this one. The villains were your cardboard villains and the twist with Juntao was kinda obvious. Don’t trust old British white dudes. Also, the story isn’t the best, but it does work. Overall, this was awesome. By the way, cool soundtrack!

Rush Hour 2

Rush Hour 2 also stars John Lone, Rosyln Sanchez, and Zhang Ziyi. Ziyi was fresh off her role from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Rush Hour 2 takes place a few days after the end of the first movie. Lee and Carter are on vacation in Hong Kong, but Lee can’t take a break. This ends up being a problem for Carter who wanting to have fun. Things get serious when the US Embassy is bombed and it’s rumored that Ricky Tan, the former partner of Lee’s father, was behind it. Their case to get to the ones responsible takes them from Hong Kong to L.A., and then to Las Vegas. They also run across a foxy Secret Service agent who may or may not be working for the bad guys.

You don't wanna mess with Zhang Ziyi in any movie. She'll get ya.

This movie is fun, but not as good as the first one. Chan and Tucker are still good together. In fact, they’re the ones who make the movie worth watching. The humor is still on par with the first movie. We get Carter interacting with Chinese culture, and that was pretty funny. Lee even gets a love interest in Isabella, the Secret Service agent. While Ziyi’s part here was the pretty capable henchwoman, she was pretty cool here. Also, look out for a Ernie Reyes Jr. cameo and a Don Cheadle cameo. That Cheadle cameo was hilarious.

It's not every day where you see Jackie Chan get into a fight with War Machine.

The action scenes were on par with the first movie. It also seemed like Chan was a little more spry here than the first movie. He was pulling off some nice stunts here. The fights in Hong Kong were pretty much the best in the film. Even Tucker gets in on the butt-kicking action. As for the negatives, I did feel like this one was trying so hard to copy what came before. You saw it with the jokes and with some of the plot. I things weren’t as good when we got back to America. It started to feel less fresh. Also, some humor didn’t pop like in the first movie. Even though it’s not on par with the first movie, it’s still a fun time.

Rush Hour 3

This movie set in developmental hell for six years until it was released in 2007. Anyway, the movie also stars Max von Sydox, Hiroyuki Sanada, Noemie Lenior, and it brings back Tzi Ma. It takes place three years after the last movie. While Carter is now a traffic officer, Lee and the Chinese consul, Han, are back in L.A. for the World Criminal Summit. Han has important information on the Triads, but he gets shot before he can release it. Lee and Carter, who are getting to annoy each other, team up to find out who’s behind the attempted assassination. It’s pretty personal for Lee since the assassin is someone real close to him. It all leads them to Paris, France. Hijinks and kung fu antics ensue.

While this is the worst of the bunch, it’s still an entertaining movie. Even though it’s been a few years, Chan and Tucker still have their chemistry going. Even though Lee and Carter are beginning to annoy each other here, you can tell they still care. The humor mostly works here. While the villains were a little lame, I thought Kenji (Sanada), who’s revealed to be Lee’s adopted brother, wasn’t too bad. The fight between him and Lee the end was nice. As usual, the action is pretty good for the most part. You can tell that Chan and Tucker are getting a little old for this stuff, though. Also, Gweniveve (Lenior) was pretty cute.

At least these two get to do something most folk have wanted to do: punch Roman Polanski.

As for the negatives, there are a few. Once again, this one pretty much repeats certain plot points from previous movies. Once again, Lee has someone from his past that’s the villain. Also, we get another twist with a British white dude. Why didn’t any of the plots revolve around Carter’s past or something? As for Carter, this was where his antics started to annoy me. While there were humorous moments, most of it didn’t always work for me here. The taxi driver annoyed me. Also, what was up with the ending? I even thought the ending was abrupt when I saw it years ago. It was like Ratner said, “Guys, just dance or something, I don’t know!” Overall, while this one was subpar, I still had fun with it.

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In the end, the Rush Hour movies are probably the best example of Diminishing Returns. Even though that’s the case, these were some entertaining movies. I’ve heard that a fourth one may be on the way, but I’ve been hearing that for years. I don’t know how that’ll turn out. I also didn’t realize that there was a TV show that did the concept, but it apparently went dead after 13 episodes. Who knows what’ll happen with this property.

And with that, I end Martial Arts Month. I’ll probably be doing it again next year, but I know I want to get some more posts about kung fu movies here throughout the year. I know I’m probably going to finish out those Bruceploitation movies. I can only go far with those. Anyway, I’m off to bed. Peace, God Bless, and remember to not touch a black man’s radio. Even I’ll look upon you with some dread. At least ask!