DVD/Movie Review: Rush Hour 2

 

Rush Hour 2 is the 2001 sequel to the original 1998 movie. It brings back Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan as Carter and Lee and adds Roselyn Sanchez and Zhang Ziyi (who was coming off her role in Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon). The cast is rounded out by John Lone, Alan King, Jeremy Piven, and Harris Yulin. Sharp-eyed viewers will also catch a glimpse of a young Maggie Q (who would later star in the series Nikita and Designated Survivor) in a small role.  The film starts out with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in Hong Kong, on the vacation they were going on at the end of the first movie. Chan's character, Lee, does nothing but work on cases, while Carter wants to relax, have fun, and hook up. They end up in the middle of a counterfeit money/money laundering ring that spans from Hong Kong back to the US.

The DVD extras again a director's commentary with Brett Ratner, deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel, making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes with the cast and crew, and the trailers. This movie is one of the few sequels that is better than the original movie. This is in part because the original was not exactly a masterpiece, so all it really had to do was improve on the formula that made the first one work. The two main additions to the case in this movie were Zhang Ziyi, who played one of the main villains of the film, and Roselyn Sanchez, who plays an undercover secret service agent. Both have a dance background which allows them to do really well in the fight scenes they are involved in, and of course, the rather gratuitous shot of Roselyn Sanchez in her underwear about halfway through the movie is not bad either. 

Like the first movie, this one is a pretty formulaic buddy cop movie. The main story involves the two main characters becoming closer friends but with a somewhat cliched bit of tension thrown in. The movie does not really take itself too seriously and does a good job of balancing the big fight scenes that Chan's films are known for and Chris Tucker's comedy. Ultimately, it is a very enjoyable sequel with a good blend of action and comedy. If you liked or loved the first movie, you will probably like this one too.  On the other hand, if the first movie did not do anything for you this one will not either.

DVD/Movie Review: Rush Hour

 

Rush Hour is a 1998 action/comedy starring Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Ken Leung, Tom Wilkinson, and Tzi Ma. At its core, Rush Hour is really a more current (at the time) spin on the various 1980s buddy cop movies. As even the director Brett Ratner admits in the commentaries, the script was pretty basic, not all that great, and formulaic. But what he really wanted to do was to blend Jackie Chan's action with Chris Tucker's comedic skill, and what resulted was a very funny movie that probably blew away everyone's expectations.

The storyline is pretty basic. The daughter of the Japanese counsel in America is kidnapped. The FBI takes the case, but the counsel wants a cop he trusts from Hong Kong (Chan) to help work the case. The FBI gets the L.A.P.D. to assign a cop (Tucker) to babysit Jackie Chan's character, and hilarity ensues. The thing that makes the movie work is the Chemistry between Tucker and Chan, and the fact that they both got what they really wanted to do reigned in a bit. Tucker could not go over the top with improvising lines because of Chan's language barrier, and Chan could not have a movie that was essentially one long fight scene. So what resulted was a movie that really did appeal to a broader American audience than, say, Rumble in the Bronx did. It made good use of the character actors that were cast in supporting roles. It has the great action that any fan of Jackie Chan would expect, just not as much of it as in his Chinese films, and Tucker was at the height of his comedic gold status, being just a couple years removed from his roles in Friday and The Fifth Element.

To me, the highlight of the DVD is actually the extras, from the behind-the-scenes features and the director's commentary track on the movie. You really get a sense of what it takes to get Jackie Chan to agree to do a movie (he basically has to approve everything) and some of the obstacles that they faced during the filming. The extras also include deleted scenes, cast and crew biographies, the music video for How Deep is Your Love, and the theatrical trailer. For those who like going through bonus material, it is quite good. While it is probably not going to be something that everyone likes, if you are a fan of action movies (especially martial arts movies) and/or buddy-cop comedies, it is quite enjoyable and worth checking out.