A Chinaman and A Niggah

Movie Review
Rush Hour 3
Directed by Brett Ratner

It's been awhile since the last Rush Hour movie, which was Rush Hour 2. In this third iteration, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker team up again for some hard-hitting (Chan's part) and fast-talking (Tucker's part) action. And seems like this time, Tucker's character can hold his own in the martial arts department (with some tutelage from Jackie Chan, most likely). The story is about the attempt to uncover a secret mafia ring. After an attempted assassination of ambassador Han when he was about to uncover the secret, Lee (Chan) and Carter (Tucker) head to Paris to finish of what the ambassador was trying to accomplish in the first place.

Those who love the franchise would find everything that they're looking for in this movie. Jackie's brand of martial arts actions and Tucker's fast talking mouth are probably the two most prominent things in this movie (that, and well, Jackie's broken English might come as a close third). It's a good thing, and not so good in a way that there's nothing much new in this movie. In fact, I must say that the actions are rather tame compared to previous iterations. In other words, I found the action part of the movie a bit lacking in fervor. Aside from that, Tucker still delivers some cackling moments, and Jackie's dead flat remarks make for some good targets for Tucker's rapid-fire jokes. In other words, Jackie's the straight guy while Tucker delivers the punch lines.

Story-wise, well, I don't go to Jackie Chan movies to really pay attention to the story. The story's there just for the sake of helping the continuation of the actions and the jokes. And there are lots of 'em. You'll be entertained with the humor and the actions in this movie (even though, just like what I've said before, the actions are a bit lacking). Possible spoiler warning beyond this point! One story element that I am really disappointed that they don't really flesh out is one of the antagonist character. I am not going to spoil much beyond saying that it's too bad that (in my opinion) that the character's development/familiarization is not really that satisying. That's it. Possible spoiler end.

Another thing to mention also is that to me it seems that the movie was trying to be a bit serious. I might be wrong, but it seems like it was trying to present some sort of edge, some tension in the storyline. But it doesn't really worked out because of lack of character developments and lots of loose ends. Then again, like I said before, I don't usually go to a Jackie Chan movie to pay attention to the story, but I just couldn't help but notice this.

All said, it was a fun movie, especially for those who are looking for the same thing as previous iterations. I can't shake the feeling of 'I've seen this before', but if that's what you are looking for, then by all means don't miss out on this. Good pop corn fun. Oh yeah, don't go out of the theater until you've seen all of the bloopers. These are signatures of Jackie Chan's movies. Must see, as always.