Almost three years after their last adventure in Rush Hour 2 (2001), Carter is now working as a Los Angeles traffic officer, while his friend and ace Hong Kong Police inspector, Lee, escorts the Chinese Ambassador, Han, to the World Criminal Court, to disclose crucial information about the Triads. However, after a botched assassination attempt, the mismatched duo find themselves in Paris, struggling to retrieve a list of Triad leaders' names, as the murderous crime syndicate's henchmen try their best to stop them. We reunite with Lee and Carter for their third outing in this trilogy. This last entry is usually considered the weakest link in the series and whilst I can agree in some areas, overall, I still had an awesome time. It may be ranked lowest in my listing of the movies, but it is by no means bad. On the contrary, this film features plenty of phenomenal moments that may even be considered some of the finest in the whole series. One of the main issues I felt was the time gap between this and the last totalling 6 years. It is a bit noticeable during the opening segment however as the adventure continued, it did start to feel like the other films and part of the same product. The movie opens with Carter, now demoted to a traffic officer, doing his usual routines of singing and cutting slick dance moves whilst he directs the cars. He is of course distracted, causing all kinds of accidents meanwhile, Lee is protecting Ambassador Han, whose daughter was kidnapped in Rush Hour (1998), but everything goes awry after getting shot leading to a high-speed chase. Crossing paths once again, the duo work together to put a stop to any further attempts on the Ambassador's life at the request of his daughter, Soo Yung, now all grown up. The duo are a little shakey at first, not being on the best of terms after Carter nonfatally shot Isabela from the last film who Lee was interested in. However as the story plays out, the two of them start to become closer again. Some truly hilarious and incredible scenes take place from here on out like the martial arts studio where the pair get relentlessly beaten by a giant, followed swiftly by the most iconic part of the film with Carter's "Who are you?" back and forth with Yu. Then there is the shootout at the hospital, which features so many unbelievable stunts and fantastic banter, like bickering over the empty gun Lee threw Carter whilst in the line of fire. Also, the interrogation scene of the french French-speaking Chinese man with a nun as the translator was outstandingly funny with her having to repeat some of the bad language of the guy only for Carter to tell her equally bad responses. Upon travelling to France, they get in a taxi where Carter gets irritated with the driver, George, who is bashing Americans and proceeds to hold him at gunpoint making him sing the national anthem, which is very amusing. It doesn't stop there as they both make an impression on the driver after getting him in chases and gunfights making him feel like an American spy. The chase was insanely good with motorbikes flying everywhere and George getting invested in the action. He is unironically the greatest aspect of the film with so many scenes and he even plays an integral role in the finale in a shocking moment that had me in hysterics. Carter continues to attempt wooing women this time with Geneviève is targeted by the Triads and both Lee and Carter rescue her during a performance by doing their own singing routine. The main villain in this flick is Kenji who has a personal connection to Lee, which led to some tense moments during the remarkable sword fight on the Eiffel Tower that continued to display Jackie Chan's exceptional stunts as Lee climbs and fights on the beams of the tower. The pair have individual troublesome tasks to overcome in this climax, but they each come through in the end. They make their leave by dancing to 'War' one last time, which is practically their theme song. Overall, I still had a joyful time with this lesser-regarded entry. Yes, it may have problems, but overlooking them, this is just as much fun, if not more at times, as the first two. With talks of a fourth entry yet to come to fruition, this is still a great place to end the series.
Lee and Carter are back! This time they're in Hong Kong. Carter wants a relaxing vacation, but Lee wants to carry on doing police work. At a nightclub, Lee spots the dangerous crime kingpin, Ricky Tan, who runs an evil gang of murderous Triads, and his partner is a woman who delivers explosive packages to unsuspecting parties. The duo find themselves neck-deep in trouble after one of the explosions is delivered to the American Embassy. Now, with the frequent threat of the Triads and their explosives, Lee and Carter must track down Ricky Tan, as the string of clues lead them back to Las Vegas. Following on from the highly successful, Rush Hour (1998) we join back with the loveable mismatched team in yet another crazy caper, however this time in Lee's territory. I was pleasantly surprised how this film followed on from the initial movie, picking up the story four days after the last scene where they board a plane to Hong Kong for a vacation. It feels like we never left (despite being made 3 years later) and I love how they continue many of the plot points and developments of the first flick, truly kidding you into thinking we never stopped watching them. The best example of this was seeing the pair singing to the Beach Boys in the car calling back to Lee's favouritism of the band, which was fantastic. Carter is in full vacation mode simply wanting to relax, chill and meet some women, unfortunately, Lee is having a hard time taking it easy as he keeps uncovering criminal behaviour and clues. It perfectly demonstrates their relationship and traits set up in the original. Lee takes on more cases ending up chasing gangs, battling them whilst climbing bamboo structures in yet another impressive display but almost gets the pair killed when one of the female members leaves them suspended at the top. Carter gets pretty mad with Lee over this fixation with working so Lee takes him to relax at a massage parlour much to Carter's satisfaction, however, it is owned by Ricky Tan, who Lee is currently investigating. It leads into one of the greatest fight sequences where Jackie Chan continues to display his impressive stunts as Lee who utilises his surroundings to beat his opponent. Tucker's Carter also displays some awesome fighting skills whilst only wearing a towel, delivering his usual banter and quick-fire lines that never fail to leave me in hysterics. It is such a fast-paced brawl that even Carter mistakingly punches Lee, which was hands down the funniest moment with Lee's expression of disbelief. The film features a great deal more twists and constantly leaves you guessing as to the motive of the Triads. Not only that, but a considerable amount of confusion lies with Isabella, who claims to be part of the Secret Service. Her loyalty always feels in flux making us weigh up whose side she is on, especially with Lee taking a fancy to her (as well as Carter) creating a difficulty in judgment for the Detectives. Whilst she does show evidence of counterfeit money existing she has an air of someone viable to double cross. There is equally more revealed about Lee's father and the link between him and Ricky that makes this mission all the more personal for Lee. As previously mentioned, the iconic duo still retain much of their friendship built in the first outing and they do honestly care for one another a great deal having each other's back in all their trials, even if they continue to bicker. There is no end to fights in this sequel with a hectic scrimmage at a casino in Vegas where Lee has a bomb tapped up in his mouth with the detonator being kicked about the floor creating a tense-filled piece. We also see Carter have a sword fight and the pair leap from an exploding building. Rush Hour 2 has no end to phenomenal, over-the-top action. Overall, like the first flick, I had an absolute ball with the second. I think it ties very closely with it in terms of enjoyment and everyone was in full force, catching just that same amount of magic in a bottle whilst delivering something new and fresh, not feeling like a complete rip. The duo have never been more engaging and the story was equally captivating. I'd highly recommend this as a worthy viewing, also check out the third title, Rush Hour 3 (2007).
When the eleven-year-old daughter of the Chinese Consul in Los Angeles is kidnapped, the desperate father insists on summoning his old friend and Hong Kong Police ace detective, Inspector Lee, to assist the FBI in the investigation. However, the bureau is far from keen on allowing the newcomer to get in their way, so they pair him up with the loudmouthed L.A.P.D. detective, James Carter, to watch over him. Of course, no one is particularly happy about this awkward partnership; nevertheless, the mismatched duo of reluctant partners must team up to solve this mystery before the FBI. Rush Hour has to be up there at the top of best buddy cop movies. Whilst following many themes from other movies with the buddy cop dynamic, where two vastly different cops have to join forces to get the job done, I feel that this pair is unique or at least doesn't feel unoriginal. There have been countless movies of this subgenre over the decades with them certainly peaking in the 80s like Lethal Weapon (1987), Stakeout (1987) Tango & Cash (1989) and the list goes on. However, despite retaining some elements and attributes of those film's duo relationships, I feel that this pair bring something new to that well-established genre. Detective Inspector Lee (played by Jackie Chan) is trained in martial arts and is capable of doing some insane stunts and acrobatics. The most impressive aspect of his character is that all these skills are done by Jackie himself as he is renowned for doing his own stunts. He keeps his eye on the task at all times doing everything in his power to complete the task at hand, especially seeing this mission is asked by his friend but also since he has a strong relationship with the kidnapped girl. Detective James Carter (played by Chris Tucker) on the other hand doesn't always make the best decisions, best seen during his introduction during an undercover mission that saw him get two cops shot and a car exploding with the evidence inside in a populated area, where he proceeds to dance like Michael Jackson. It is hilarious, which also sums up his character as he delivers some of the funniest lines both in quick succession and in a humourous fashion. Carter has the wit, charm and loves to sing and dance, even helping Lee in a phenomenal sequence of them singing 'War' by Edwin Starr whilst staking out a restaurant. Their initial introductions are perfect at showing how contrasting the pair is from Lee taking down an armed boat stealthily, kicking ass, Carter on the other hand messes everything up. Upon meeting they don't immediately get along, much like in other buddy cop movies, yet they do stick together using both of their skills to uncover any information. As they spend more time with one another, they grow closer as partners sharing details about their fathers being cops and learning stuff from the other. Lee shows Carter his country's food, and how to fight, like disarming gunmen whilst Carter teaches Lee how to dance, sing and have a good time. Lee isn't as fluent with his English and ends up listening too much to Carter resulting in some problems, like repeating the N-word resulting in a bar fight that he wins yet is confused as to what he did wrong. I love their dyrnamic so much making them one of my favourite cop duos. Even though they aren't involved in the other operations of the investigation, they still manage to do the most legwork, uncovering hideouts and closing in on the operation. There are plenty of henchmen to fight with and a rival of Lee's, Sang who escaped his clutches but there is another mastermind to this plot hidden in plain sight. The final confrontation to save Soo Yung, the kidnapped girl, is awesome, full of fights, shootouts, acrobatics, tension and comedic moments. The pair are in full force as they take down the menace once and for all. Overall, Rush Hour is an exceptional flick that is likely to remain a staple in pop culture history. I like how this isn't limited to a comedy and can combine the story with drama, action and deliver an interesting story. Lee and Carter have a fantastic friendship that blossoms throughout the adventure that grows in each instalment. Check the sequel Rush Hour 2 (2001) for more crazy antics from this epic duo.
