Home > Blogs > Sir Critic on Cinema > Archives > 2007 > August > 10 > Entry
Third ‘Hour’ not such a ‘Rush’
At the end of Rush Hour 2, during the obligatory outtakes, a stunt went awry. Looking after the errant stuntman, Chris Tucker went off-script and deadpanned, “Well, he ain’t gonna be in Rush Hour 3.”
That stuntman was probably OK, but something else is missing from Rush Hour 3. Like many other big guns of the summer, this series is running out of ideas, and on fumes.
I liked the movie enough to give it the slimmest of recommendations, and people who enjoyed the earlier movies may have a good time. Still, even the least discriminating viewers ought to be able to see anything this sequel throws at them from miles away.
Plot involving foreign intrigue that gives Jackie Chan a guilt complex? Check.
A scene involving Tucker gettin’ funky to an R&B tune? Check. Make it Prince this time.
Callbacks of the Beach Boys’ “California Girls” and Edwin Starr’s “War”? Check and check.
Required scene where Chan and Tucker have a falling out and a melancholy pop hit plays on the soundtrack? Check. Pipe in Elton John’s “Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word.”
Lots of physics-defying stunts by Chan, filmed proficiently but indistinctly by Brett Ratner? Check all over the place.
Scene after scene of Tucker’s character being made into a buffoon, with Tucker going for the obvious gag every time? Check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check and check.
Tucker’s manic energy is still good for a few laughs, but his shtick has worn thin. I find it very telling that the only work this actor has done outside of the Rush Hour movies since 1998 is an appearance in Michael Jackson’s “You Rock My World” video - the finest hour of no one involved. A little of Tucker goes a long way, and he’s as lazy as his voice is irritating.
That Rush Hour 3 is as watchable as it is thanks mainly to Chan, whose skills as a comedian are what I like best about him. His stunts may not be quite as breathtaking as they once were because Chan isn’t as nimble as he once was, but that’s OK. Chan always brings a sense of good fun to even less than great movies like this one. He keeps this movie afloat practically by himself.
I enjoyed Rush Hour 3 while I watched it. Ninety minutes felt like … 90 minutes. I got exactly what I expected, which wasn’t much. And I have a feeling that I’ll completely forget about it by the time Labor Day rolls around.
GRADE: B-
