It's not often I see movies on the opening weekend, but today I saw Rush Hour 3 (2007) which also happens to be the #1 movie this week in the theaters. The team of Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker and director Brett Ratner return for a third go 'round in the buddy cop series. This time, the duo take on the Chinese Triads in France. The movie takes the phrase "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" and runs with it for a few hours. This could be taken as a good thing or bad thing, but either way you know exactly what you are getting with this Rush Hour.
The good news is director Ratner remembered what audiences liked about the first two movies and xeroxed them straight into this film. Plot about Chinese mobsters running amok on international authorities? Check. Jackie Chan scrambling all over the place to land the perfect kick? Check. Chris Tucker jaw jacking Chan and everyone else in sight? Check. Beautiful girls either in distress or merciless assassins? Check. Explosions and gunfire? That goes without saying.
Granted, Rush Hour as a series has carried its faults as well (such as giant plot holes, predictable stories) but all of the freshness is gone. Jackie Chan, looking older and glummer, still has a natural likability but now relies on special effects and other actor / stuntmen to carry the action scenes he became famous for. Chan does deserve some slack as he is a senior citizen now and has created an astonishing body of work featuring the most stunning action set pieces in modern history. It's just sad to see Chan have to go through the motions of stunt work when he once executed death defying leaps and falls on a regular basis. Even in the end credits where Chan usually shows the stunts that went wrong is skimpy beyond dialogue flubs.
Much of Chan's slack is picked up by Chris Tucker who is still a motor mouth with a great Michael Jackson / Prince impersonation. Most of the dialogue is Tucker's but with more screen time his persona becomes slightly grating. Oddly, Tucker is portrayed as a mean bully during the first half by holding a gun to the head of almost anyone he comes across. Disturbingly, Tucker holds a gun to a Chinese hitman's head in a style reminiscent of the famous Vietnam photograph where a man's head is blown away. He's still funny and handles his increased presence in the fight sequences well.
But at the end of the day, Rush Hour 3 is Brett Ratner's movie. Ratner understands the limitations of both of his stars and works to cover them. He limits Jackie Chan's fight sequences and dialogue to be within Chan's diminished reach. Using special effects and Chris Tucker, Rush Hour 3 is an impressive simulation of the same thrills of Chan's previous work although any element of risk has clearly been eliminated. But without Chan, Chris Tucker becomes an annoying bully verbally berating everyone with impunity. It seems most likely Tucker's insults towards Chinese characters is probably what offended the government of China.
Ratner does add something to RH3, a French taxi cab driver meant to ridicule America's foreign affairs. The taxi driver initially refuses to drive the American Chris Tucker because he represents a country that loses wars it starts and kills without purpose. This character is obviously meant to send up the international perception of America and make a few anti-war points as well. As the cab driver gets hooked on what he sees as an American style of reckless violence he becomes the most likable and human character in the movie.
The rest of RH3 holds together well because it is essentially the same movie as the first one. Thankfully, the scattered randomness of Rush Hour 2 has been done away with. What's left is a functional machine, you'll laugh, you'll shout, you'll be home in time for lunch. If that's your expectations (it was mine), Rush Hour 3 is a good fit. Just don't think past that point or you'll begin wondering why you didn't just watch the first Rush Hour over again for free.
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