Rush Hour 3

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Action & Adventure

In the third installment of any movie series, you usually expect a few things. In the case of “Rush Hour 3”, those things are a. Jackie Chan has to do some crazy stunts, b. Chris Tucker has to talk non-stop, c. one or both of the leads have to be in a “fish out of water scenario”, d. both have to get on each other’s nerves, and e. a happy ending has to ensue.

Inspector Lee (Chan) is back as Ambassador Han’s (Tzi Ma) bodyguard while Det. James Carter (Tucker) has been relegated to traffic cop duty. An assassin makes an attempt at Han’s life just as he is about to reveal important information on the leadership of the Triad. Lee chases the assassin, only to find out it is his long lost “brother” Kenji (Hiroyuki Sanada). Lee can’t kill Kenji, who promptly escapes. To protect Han and daughter Soo Yung (Zhang Jingchu), Lee and Carter entrust her to the head of the World Criminal Court, Varden Reynard (Max Von Sydow). Eventually, the trail leads them to Paris and the mysterious performer Genevieve (Noémie Lenoir). Both Soo Yung and Genevieve are in danger and it’s up to Carter and Lee to protect them while also surviving the perils of the Paris underworld.

Brett Ratner has long ago stated that he was born to do “Rush Hour” films. With Chris Tucker’s last film being “Rush Hour 2” back in 2001, he can probably say the same thing. Like in the first two installments, both Tucker and Chan end up lost or missing in a strange place, in “the City of Lights” no less. Chan, for a 53-year old man, is still a phenomenal martial artist and stuntman. Oliver and I were wowed by the risks he takes and the stunts he continues to pull off throughout this film. As before, Tucker’s loud motormouth serves as a nice compliment to Chan’s fast hands and feet. It’s always entertaining to see these two in action as their onscreen partnership has clearly developed into an offscreen friendship.

This is by no means rocket science, it’s just a “Rush Hour” movie for crying out loud. Therefore, you shouldn’t expect any overcomplicated plots or overly serious storylines. The mere fact that Sanada gets to square off against Chan in this film already had me sold. I’ve been a Sanada fan since I saw him in the original “Ringu”, and his performances in “The Last Samurai” and “Sunshine” just made me a bigger fan of his. It was fun seeing him display some of his martial arts abilities and squaring off against a legend like Chan.

Yes, it may seem like a waste of time for such a great actor like Von Sydow or even director Roman Polanski (as a smarmy French cop) to appear in this kind of film, but they still chose to do it so don’t blame them or Ratner for joining a relatively light action flick. Besides, I, like most guys, enjoy our mindless action films every so often. The formula for a good “Rush Hour” film has long been established, and I personally don’t mind seeing the formula hit the cinemas every few years.