Movie Scene
Rush job: You can tell 'Rush Hour 2' was thrown together
By Marshall Fine
The (Westchester N.Y.) Journal News
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A weak, thrown-together sequel to the 1998 hit, in which an American cop and a Chinese cop team up to defeat gangsters in a counterfeiting scheme that stretches from Hong Kong to Las Vegas. Starring Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker. Directed by Brett Ratner. (Rated PG-13 for violence, profanity, partial nudity), * 1/2. New Line Cinema. 105 minutes. |
Stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are re-teamed with director Brett Ratner. But they've lost the element of surprise, as well as the balance between comedy and action.
This film picks up where the first one ended: with L.A.P.D. Detective James Carter (Tucker) on vacation in Hong Kong with his new pal, Inspector Lee (Chan). Carter is upset, however, because Lee keeps dragging him along on police business.
Lee seems particularly worked up about a case involving businessman Ricky Tan (John Lone), a one-time partner of Lee's late father. Bombs have been going off around Hong Kong and Tan is a suspect.
The plot involves corrupt Secret Service agents, stolen "super-plates" capable of printing undetectable counterfeit $100 bills and a laundering scheme at a new Las Vegas casino. As Carter and Lee vamp their way through fights, they find themselves tangling with Tan's sadistic lieutenant (played by Zhang Ziyi from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), as well as a sultry undercover agent who may or may not be on the level.
By the time you find out, it doesn't really matter, nor does the simple-minded plot.
The pairing of Chan and Tucker worked in the first "Rush Hour" because the film offered each of them a showcase, while tempering the tendency both have to overdo. Chan's fight scenes were flashy and spectacular, without going on at too much length. That's something we long-time fans don't mind, but which might wear out a mainstream audience.
"Rush Hour 2," however, has nothing else to fall back on but lame gags and perfunctory action. The cross-cultural shtick is stale here and, with so little actual story or character, Tucker's endless riffing becomes the centerpiece of many scenes.
Chan, on the other hand, is almost missing in action. Though there are a couple of memorable battles, there's little of the Chan imagination in the physical scenes. It's as if Ratner considered the action set-pieces an obstacle, rather than a key to telling this story.
Tucker knows his way around a funny line, but his brashly seductive manner can't elevate weak material. Though he and Chan have a comic chemistry, the writer doesn't understand it in more than a one-dimensional way.
Undoubtedly, the folks at New Line Cinema hope that "Rush Hour 2" is the second installment in a franchise, a la the "Lethal Weapon" series. But it's going to take a better script than this to make anyone want to see "Rush Hour 3."
