Rush Hour 3 – 2 out of 5
I really enjoy the first two Rush Hour films. I felt Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker were a lot of fun together and they had a great balance of cool action and entertaining humor. It’s been some time since I’ve watched them so it is entirely possible that they haven’t aged well. I only say that because recently I decided to revisit the third film and there are some…problematic elements to it (some jokes are very cringe-y and something far worse that I'll get into later comes into play). I saw it when it came out to rent in 2007 and didn’t really care for it. I didn’t think it was as fun as the first one at the time but I never rule out that I potentially didn’t give it a proper chance. Currently, I am on a staycation (the pandemic really stops you from going anywhere) and that means I am picking out some random films to check out while I sit like a lump on my couch. This was one of them. Well, I revisited it and my impressions of it haven’t changed.
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| I'm watching Rush Hour 3, why are you asking me if I'm feeling lucky? I also don't appreciate being called a "punk." |
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| Hang in there! Ha ha, see what I did there? I'm sorry. |
Chief Inspector Yan Naing Lee (Chan) and Detective James Carter (Tucker) are back together and on the case. After Lee’s brother; Kenji (Hiroyuki Sanada), assassinates a Chinese Ambassador, a man who was going after the Triads and trying to locate an individual called the Shy Shen—a person of great importance to the Chinese mob. The investigation leads the two to France and they meet a performer named Geneviève (Noémie Lenoir), a person being targeted by the Triads because she might have information about Shy Shen. Now the two have to punch, kick, and scramble their way through the Triads in order to protect Geneviève and find out the secret of Shy Shen.
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| The secret is where she got that fantastic beret. |
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| The taxi cab driver who doesn't like Americans was genuinely an entertaining part of the film. |
Rush Hour 3 feels like an absolutely needless sequel. It really isn’t providing anything new and it really feels like it is phoning in the formula that made the first two enjoyable. The humor doesn’t really land (and there are a lot of jokes that didn't age well and are outright gross and uncomfortable), the fight scenes are only occasionally interesting and entertaining (and, sadly, never really that exciting and fun), and the story is painful as it lacks engaging qualities and has a very lethargic pace. For example, Lee’s brother is introduced and that really should have felt important and could have brought in some dramatic stakes to the film but it just didn’t. Beyond a couple of moments with Lee, Kenji just kinda felt like another face in the crowd. To boil it down, this one just didn’t deliver.
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| If you are looking for an action comedy that has a very tall man spinning the two main characters in a circle...then this movie will deliver specifically for you. |
One thing that really shocked me about this one is how disconnected that characters of Lee and Carter feel. A big part of my enjoyment from the last two films stemmed from the chemistry and the back-and-forth from the two. Whether it is their teamwork or when they were bickering and fighting with themselves, their interactions were one of the reasons the film was so fun. In this third film, they didn’t really feel connected and it kinda felt like both of them were just kinda…well…there. And then only giving the bare minimum of what was needed for the product. Neither actor is terrible or phoning it in but they didn't feel like they had the same enthusiasm or energy that I saw in the last two movies.
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| Rush Hour 3: Sure, Let's Do Another One. |
The action, sadly, is kinda forgettable most of the time. There are some moments that are enjoyable and fun but these moments are few and far between. Most of the film, the action has little working for it that makes it stand out. There are rarely any great jokes or gags or set pieces to the fight scenes that make them memorable and enjoyable. Occasionally, as well, sometimes the action can just be a bit groan-inducing.
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| They're hang gliding with a flag. Did this one just use the rejected ideas from the last two? |
The cast in the film is fairly good and one of the few saving graces for it. The only problem is that Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan are, unfortunately, the low points. This is mostly because of the point I made earlier about how the characters have this disconnected feel. Additionally, while it is disappointing that the character of Kenji never felt that important to Lee’s arc, Hiroyuki Sanada’s performance is pretty terrific and he definitely feels like he has history with Lee and is a genuine threat.
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| His hair also looks awesome. Just wanted to add that because it wouldn't be a Rev. Ron review without saying how great someone's hair or outfit looked. |
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| MvS was somehow cool and terrifying at the same time in his life. |
Noémie Lenoir is great in the film and the feature also has Max von Sydow (rest in peace) bringing in some ambience to the cast. One really low point, though, is a cameo from Roman Polanski. Sure, Rosemary’s Baby is an incredible film but Polanski is a rapist and a disgusting human being. However, the film is also director by Brett Ratner, whom is also a man with a history of sexual assault, so I guess it is suppose to be funny that a film directed by a horrible person has a cameo from another horrible person doing a rape joke? Fun times! Ugh.
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| Did Ratner see this cameo as an opportunity to learn from a bigger monster? |
Rush Hour 3 is, honestly, really disappointing. I didn’t care for it the first time I saw it but, as it turns out I gave it a fair shake that time because, as I found out, it really isn’t that good a second time around. The action is forgettable, the jokes are weak at best, the main characters don’t have the same chemistry as before, and the story just isn’t that engaging. It does make me wonder, though, if the previous two still hold up. Since I’m on a staycation, maybe I’ll revisit them.
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