Dir. Brett Ratner, US, 2007, 91mins
Cast: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Max Von-Sydow
Review by Matthew Rodgers
The penultimate summer threequel arrives (only the excellent Bourne Ultimatum remains) and all of the pieces are in place for this to replicate the box-office success of the first two instalments in Brett Ratner’s hollow hyper-macho, fish-out-of-water buddy cop franchise, the last of which was released six years ago. Chan’s trademark stunts and Tuckers quick witted high pitched quips separated by action set-pieces and scantily clad women have forced the studio cash cows into churning out the least enjoyable entry, resulting in the duos least finest hour.
Having had Chan’s Inspector Lee in unfamiliar surroundings in Rush Hour, and then Tucker’s Detective Carter relocated to Hong Kong in the enjoyable sequel director Ratner lazily shifts the action to Paris, France and all its stereotypical racist opportunities that have peppered the series so far. Tired of the “Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?” jokes we are now asked to roll in the isles at the American-hating French and their stoic pomposities as our tiresome twosome go in search of an oriental maguffin and the same kidnapped child from the first film. Seriously? For all that money could the team of monkeys at typewriters not come up with anything slightly more original? It’s the sort of dated schlock in which even if you removed your brain in the foyer you will have no trouble guessing the bad guy inside the first five minutes.
The majority of scenes feel like cast offs from the weakest Lethal Weapon moments and what made the original films so agreeable was the inventive stunts from martial arts legend Chan that are now replaced by shots from distance to disguise the fact that the thoroughly bored, sidelined Chan has actually been replaced by his stunt double, and the ad-libs from a now puffy faced, dead eyed Tucker whose “love it or hate it” brand of comedy is at its best in the now standard credit out-take sequence, and that says a lot about the script.
Attempts by the juvenile Ratner to add a contextual commentary to proceedings with his “boo hiss America” theme manifested in the comedy taxi-driver are cast aside as the Gallic cabbie becomes everything he loathes throughout the course of the movie, taking glee in shooting a bad guy in the finale it really is a misplaced laugh.
The action scenes on which the flimsy plot hangs pale in comparison to the second films bamboo scaffold fight or the massage parlour close combat karate, only once in a well choreographed gun reloading sequence in a hospital does the sense of infectious enjoyment from the other movies shine through.
The whole thing feels like an exercise in going through the motions towards a big pay cheque because try as Tucker and Chan might they cannot replicate the chemistry, it feels forced and a ridiculous musical segment, although chuckle-some, is out of place.
Rush Hour 3 has approximately 15 funny minutes in its “still feels too long” running time, and most of them are thanks to Tuckers one liners, so if you cant stand him it might be worth putting the clocks forward an hour and a half.
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