Rush Hour 3 (2007)

Why so much hype?

Admirable film.

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This third instalment to the unlikely buddy cop duo is a guilty pleasure. Every fibre of this film is mediocre. From Ratner's direction, predictable plot, forgettable scenes and overuse of racial stereotypes for the script's jokes. Yet, the undeniable chemistry between Tucker and Chan disguises the apparent issues, that results in an entertaining watch. The dream team must partner up again as they travel to Paris to investigate the assassination attempt of an ambassador. Immediately, we are greeted with Tucker singing a song in his infamous high-pitch vocal chords as he guides traffic. Instantaneously the tone is set. Disposable comedic action that reeks of pure stupidity whilst remaining fun throughout. Chan's determined stunt choreography once again juxtaposes Tucker's interjectory comments that seemingly complement each other to create humorous action sequences. The cast were absolutely fine and dependable, particularly Sanada who will always be a personal favourite of mine. Regrettably the lack of inventiveness and imagination for the story consequently conjured up familiarity. It's the exact same formula as the previous two instalments. The script substitutes the astute wit that made its predecessors funny for obvious racism. It should be taken with a pinch of salt, as it is harmless fun, however when it is relentlessly overused it becomes tiresome and predictable. In relation to this, the plot itself can be predicted before the title credits appear. The story remains uninspired throughout and its abrupt closure leaves a sour aftertaste (even if it's a dance sequence). The poor visual effects during the Eiffel Tower showdown really took me out of the frantic action. Alas, I just can't hate this film. It's faster than a pair of chopsticks being used in a rice consuming competition. Several scenes producing a giant grin on my face, particularly the "He is Me. I am You." scene that still has me cracking up to this day. Yet Ratner was far too safe with this sequel, which ultimately makes it forgettable.

For the third in an action-comedy series,"Rush Hour 3" is not half bad. Perhaps that should not be a surprise for a Jackie Chan film, because "Shanghai Knights," the second film in his collaboration with Owen Wilson, was even funnier than the first, "Shanghai Noon." In Chan's third film with comedian Chris Tucker, Jackie witnesses an attempt on the Chinese ambassador's life, and he springs into action with the aid of Tucker. Directed by Brett Ratner, who helmed the first two installments in the series, the film sends the pair to Paris in pursuit of the assassin, where they become involved with crime lords, the French police, a helpful taxi driver, Jackie's long lost brother, and some beautiful women.As expected in a Jackie Chan movie, the action is a non-stop series of martial arts fights, car chases, and explosions. A martial arts sequence with an extremely tall black belt and a group of young students is quite good, and a precarious fight atop the Eiffel Tower is especially well done. Tucker provides the wise cracks, which are generally funny, although his barbs that disparaged a large-size woman were in poor taste. However, the "Yu and Mi" exchange, reminiscent of the classic "Who's on First" by Abbott and Costello was funny. While there is nothing ground-breaking here, the film has plenty of action for Jackie's fans, and some good lines from Tucker; when you throw in appearances by Max Von Sydow, Philip Baker Hall, and Roman Polanski, "Rush Hour 3" is pretty decent entertainment for the third film in a series.

Rush Hour 3 was good and successful. It is not as violent as the first two movies, but has just as much humour if not better. The film will make you laugh a lot for sure. The story plot was good – all three of these films had good stories. What I loved the most about this film was the fighting scene with 7ft Chinese man – it's probably what makes the film unique compared to the previous editions because it doesn't have that. If this was going to be the last of the Rush Hour films then it's a fitting one, and makes it a fantastic franchise unlike for example the Die Hard franchise where they made a mess of it after Die Hard Vengeance. Rush Hour was a brilliant trilogy.

I am quite a fan of Jackie Chan movies – when they were made in Hong Kong during what I considered the golden age of Hong Kong cinema. However his Hollywood movies just do not seem to have the same class about them as his Hong Kong movies did. Further, as can be expected with most Hollywood sequels the quality of the films degenerate significantly, and it is no different with this film. It did have its laughs, and with the exception of Chris Rock's character, it wasn't that painful to watch, but it still does not deserve a very high rating.The basic premise is that Jackie Chan is a cop from Hong Kong and Chris Rock is an LA police officer. Chan has returned to America with the Chinese Ambassador for a conference at the world court, but the Triad want to put an end to this, so they attempt, and fail, to assassinate the Chinese ambassador. Thus Chan and Rock team up again (much to Chan's horror) to attempt to locate the head of the triad and bring the criminal organisation to an end. Throughout the film Chan and Rock attempt to come to terms with a rather, unique, friendship. Rock is very keen to be Chan's friend, while Chan (much like myself) finds Rock to be incredibly annoying.While I would recommend that one not really waste one's time with this film, I still don't feel too comfortable in revealing too much of the plot, namely because there is not all that much depth in the plot to discuss, so, without further adieu, I'll finish the review.