The original "Rush Hour" is one of the surprise delights of the 1990's- a fun, fast and well-made "buddy cop" film that charmed audiences with its humor and the great chemistry between leads Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. It was a big hit, so a sequel or two seemed like a no-brainer. And indeed two sequels (so far, at least) were produced. The first of which was 2001's "Rush Hour 2." And really, this film is indicative of the problems all three entries in the series face- an over-reliance on clichés, contrivances, coincidences and lazy storytelling. However, whereas the first film was able to rise above a fairly formulaic script and deliver a good film, this sequel isn't quite able to rise above it's almost embarrassingly by-the-numbers screenplay, and comes off as a much more average film than the original.
Detective Carter (Tucker) is visiting his friend Detective Lee (Chan) in Hong Kong. While Carter is hoping for a few weeks of fun, food and women, Lee is hard at work on several cases. When a bomb goes off at an American Consulate building in Hong Kong, and it appears that Ricky Tan (John Lone), a man with a dark connection to Lee's past, is connected, Lee and Carter get involved in the case. And it leads to- you guessed it- action, action and more action.
To give the film credit where it is due, the acting is uniformly great, much as it was in the original. Chan is given a slightly more personal motivation in the story this time, and it allows him to stretch his acting chops (and his martial arts and stunt work) moreso than the first film. Tucker is a lot of fun, though this film made him into too much of a cartoon character at times. Many people (myself included) have noted that he goes too far and comes off as a bit on the annoying side in this film. But still, he has some great jokes that land, and his chemistry with Chan is undeniable.
Supporting roles by the likes of John Lone, Roselyn Sanchez and Harris Yulin are all played well. And Zhang Ziyi as a ruthless, silent assassin is great. While she is almost nothing more than a surrogate for the "Sang" character in the original film, she is able to give her own spin to the role and plays it well- coming across as savage, sexy and very, very cool.
The production is also decent. Brett Ratner's direction is simple, concise and a lot of fun for the most part, although it feels slightly more formulaic this time around. However, the music by Lalo Schifrin is once again a revelation- feeling both old-fashioned yet also modern, giving it a timeless, fun feel. The set and costume design is nice, and the cinematography is fantastic. Setting this film predominately in Hong Kong did allow for some stunning visuals, and it does help.
However, the script is where this film really starts to fall apart, and it's the main reason why I am giving this film such a lower rating than I did for the original.
The script from the first film did have a problem with clichés, tropes and a formulaic nature, but the script felt creative and fresh enough to elevate itself past this problem, and bring the production to a good level. Not so this time around, sadly. The script by Jeff Nathanson is pretty darned foul. Yes, it's hard to believe that the same man who wrote Spielberg's very fun films "Catch Me If You Can" and "The Terminal" was also responsible for the unforgivably lazy "Rush Hour 2." (And "Rush Hour 3", but more on that in a later review)
I don't know if it was fear on Nathanson's part to take any chances, or perhaps studio pressure to deliver a "safe", formulaic film, but the script is bad. Really bad. Jokes are often lowest-common-denominator. You can see every twist and turn from a mile away. Characters are completely undeveloped beyond being "good guys" or "bad guys." It spends too much time referencing the first film. It's just a lazy, lazy script. You don't even need to see the film to know what happens. Just think of any other buddy cop movie, and substitute in Chan and Tucker, and you have "Rush Hour 2."
And it's a shame, because it's the one big problem in an otherwise decent sequel. Thankfully, the good performances and the chemistry between Chan and Tucker are able to pretty much make up for this issue. But just barely.
"Rush Hour 2" gets a slightly above average 6 out of 10 from me. Fans of the original should check it out, but don't go in expecting much.
Detective Carter (Tucker) is visiting his friend Detective Lee (Chan) in Hong Kong. While Carter is hoping for a few weeks of fun, food and women, Lee is hard at work on several cases. When a bomb goes off at an American Consulate building in Hong Kong, and it appears that Ricky Tan (John Lone), a man with a dark connection to Lee's past, is connected, Lee and Carter get involved in the case. And it leads to- you guessed it- action, action and more action.
To give the film credit where it is due, the acting is uniformly great, much as it was in the original. Chan is given a slightly more personal motivation in the story this time, and it allows him to stretch his acting chops (and his martial arts and stunt work) moreso than the first film. Tucker is a lot of fun, though this film made him into too much of a cartoon character at times. Many people (myself included) have noted that he goes too far and comes off as a bit on the annoying side in this film. But still, he has some great jokes that land, and his chemistry with Chan is undeniable.
Supporting roles by the likes of John Lone, Roselyn Sanchez and Harris Yulin are all played well. And Zhang Ziyi as a ruthless, silent assassin is great. While she is almost nothing more than a surrogate for the "Sang" character in the original film, she is able to give her own spin to the role and plays it well- coming across as savage, sexy and very, very cool.
The production is also decent. Brett Ratner's direction is simple, concise and a lot of fun for the most part, although it feels slightly more formulaic this time around. However, the music by Lalo Schifrin is once again a revelation- feeling both old-fashioned yet also modern, giving it a timeless, fun feel. The set and costume design is nice, and the cinematography is fantastic. Setting this film predominately in Hong Kong did allow for some stunning visuals, and it does help.
However, the script is where this film really starts to fall apart, and it's the main reason why I am giving this film such a lower rating than I did for the original.
The script from the first film did have a problem with clichés, tropes and a formulaic nature, but the script felt creative and fresh enough to elevate itself past this problem, and bring the production to a good level. Not so this time around, sadly. The script by Jeff Nathanson is pretty darned foul. Yes, it's hard to believe that the same man who wrote Spielberg's very fun films "Catch Me If You Can" and "The Terminal" was also responsible for the unforgivably lazy "Rush Hour 2." (And "Rush Hour 3", but more on that in a later review)
I don't know if it was fear on Nathanson's part to take any chances, or perhaps studio pressure to deliver a "safe", formulaic film, but the script is bad. Really bad. Jokes are often lowest-common-denominator. You can see every twist and turn from a mile away. Characters are completely undeveloped beyond being "good guys" or "bad guys." It spends too much time referencing the first film. It's just a lazy, lazy script. You don't even need to see the film to know what happens. Just think of any other buddy cop movie, and substitute in Chan and Tucker, and you have "Rush Hour 2."
And it's a shame, because it's the one big problem in an otherwise decent sequel. Thankfully, the good performances and the chemistry between Chan and Tucker are able to pretty much make up for this issue. But just barely.
"Rush Hour 2" gets a slightly above average 6 out of 10 from me. Fans of the original should check it out, but don't go in expecting much.