Rush Hour 3 – Review

Reviews


Image courtesy of www.impawards.com

Director :

Brett Ratner

Cast :

Chris Tucker …….. Detective James Carter
Jackie Chan …….. Chief Inspector Lee
Max von Sydow …….. Varden Reynard
Hiroyuki Sanada …….. Kenji
Yvan Attal …….. George
Youki Kudoh …….. Dragon Lady
Noémie Lenoir …….. Genevieve
Jingchu Zhang …….. Soo Yung
Tzi Ma .Ambassador Han

Chris Tucker’s film career has been a rather interesting one. Since 1998 he’s only done three films and yet has been able to demand a larger salary for each one, allowing him some leverage as the Rush Hour was inexplicably tied to the motor mouth comedian. For an actor who has never been shown to be box office draw outside of the series, he’s been able to command the sort of salary the top notch stars command per picture to remain in the franchise. It’s amazing to think that a minor character from House Party 3 would be in the same financial category as Tom Cruise and Leo DiCaprio for starring in a series of increasingly bad films. And in a summer of disappointing sequels, Rush Hour 3 is perhaps the worst of the lot.

Tucker returns to his role as Detective James Carter, a motor-mouth police officer who thinks of himself as a much better law enforcement official than he is. He’s joined by the other mainstay of the franchise, veteran Hong Kong superstar Jackie Chan as Chief Inspector Lee, as they’re back for another mystery to solve. Ambassador Han (Tzi Ma) has been shot by a member of the Triads, as he’s uncovered their inner secrets and they want him and his family silenced forever. It’s up to Lee, who’s been charged with tracking down his would be assassin, to track him down in Paris and bring him to justice. Carter is there to tag along and provide “witty comic relief” to the proceedings.

The problem is that the film has no real reason to exist outside of the requisite need to give everyone involved a paycheck. The first film was good, but nothing special, but made enough to warrant a follow-up despite not really demanding one. Rush Hour 2 was bigger, as it was intended to be a blockbuster as opposed to a surprise hit like the first, and yet managed to be a bad film that made a ton of money. Rush Hour 3 doesn’t even hit the heights of the second film. And that’s a shame, really, because Jackie Chan deserves better.

Chan, who’s major role in the U.S has been as Lee, is his usual solid self playing the straight man to Tucker’s rather unfunny self. In what feels like a lifetime ago from the Chan that was an international action star from Hong Kong, Chan is solid if unspectacular in what little he’s required to do. His stunt-work is less impressive than even a decade, as it appears Chan is doing less and stunt men are doing more, but he isn’t required to do nearly as much either. He’s used much more to let Tucker carry the film via his reactions as opposed to doing some sort of aerial insanity to keep up his end of the work. It’s a thankless role and Chan tries admirably to keep his end of a Faustian bargain for success in America and yet Tucker’s lack of comedy isn’t really his fault.

Tucker’s inability to be funny in this film lies not in his ability to use the materials provided, it lies in the material itself. Not even a gifted comic like Eddie Murphy in his prime couldn’t carry a rather lackluster script like the one behind Rush Hour 3 to any reasonably funny conclusion. Instead Tucker is left to try and be funny with material that isn’t; he tries incredibly hard, as Tucker’s timing and presence are there. It’s just the film isn’t funny to begin with, no matter how good he is with the material. He has plenty of talent and has shown to be capable of much more than he shows. For a man who has only made films sporadically since Bill Clinton was President, it’s a shame he’s saddled with lines and moments that aren’t funny at all.

When one removes the comedy from an action comedy, the one saving grace of the film could be its action. But Ratner doesn’t do anything new or unique in the film that he hasn’t already done in the series. The usual sort of car chases and individual fight scenes aren’t new, or at least ripped off from a better franchise, and as such the film becomes a series of mind-numbing action scenes following Chris Tucker’s appallingly unfunny moments.

Ratner seems to have found a Rush Hour formula after the first two films and is following it to a tee: let Tucker say something funny, let Chan react and throw in some action stuffs, sauté with a random beautiful actress and keep cooking for 90 minutes. This is a franchise that should never have been, as the fun of the first one is gone and has been replaced with a mind-numbing paint by numbers shtick from all involved.

FINAL RATING (ON A SCALE OF 1-5 BUCKETS):