Rush Hour 3 is the unnecessary third movie in the franchise. It is set three years after the events of Rush Hour 2. In this movie, Lee (Jackie Chan) is the bodyguard of Chinese Ambassador Solon Han, from the first movie. After an assassination attempt against Han, Lee and Carter (Chris Tucker) team up again to try and take down the Chinese Triad gang that attempted the assassination.
The bulk of the story is set in Paris, with Lee and Carter doing the same schtick as in the first movie, with Lee fighting most of the bad guys while Carter mouths off in the background and occasionally throws a punch. This movie also features Han's daughter Soo-Yung, recast from the first movie played by Zhang Jingchu, who again gets in trouble. The movie also features Max Von Sydow, and Roman Polanski (whom Bret Ratner apparently loves according to the commentary track) in an uncredited role that was supposed to provide comic relief but, fittingly, was more creepy than funny.
For those who get the blu-ray, the A/V quality is very good. Not surprisingly, it is the best-looking of all of the movies which is to be expected given that it was made in 2006-2007 as opposed to the first movie which was released in 1998 and the second released in 2001. There are a lot of extras including deleted scenes, a commentary track by director Brett Ratner, outtakes, a featurette on the visual effects, a production diary, and a 1.5 hr making-of documentary. So, there is a lot there if you like watching the extras.
Overall, the movie is okay. It has some funny moments and a lot of action. Chan can still do a lot even though he is definitely getting older. It is not, however, as good as either of the first two movies and like a lot of trilogies, especially those with a comedy bent, tends to recycle jokes. Chan and Tucker still have very good chemistry and work off of each other well. Ultimately, though, it feels like they just made the movie to get a trilogy, and did not put a lot of effort into making a better movie. Not that the first two were masterpieces, but they were better. One bright spot in the movie is the Taxi driver George, played by Yvan Attal, who steals pretty much every scene he is in. If you are a fan of the first two movies I do think this is worth watching once, but it is not something that I would say warrants repeat viewings.
The bulk of the story is set in Paris, with Lee and Carter doing the same schtick as in the first movie, with Lee fighting most of the bad guys while Carter mouths off in the background and occasionally throws a punch. This movie also features Han's daughter Soo-Yung, recast from the first movie played by Zhang Jingchu, who again gets in trouble. The movie also features Max Von Sydow, and Roman Polanski (whom Bret Ratner apparently loves according to the commentary track) in an uncredited role that was supposed to provide comic relief but, fittingly, was more creepy than funny.
For those who get the blu-ray, the A/V quality is very good. Not surprisingly, it is the best-looking of all of the movies which is to be expected given that it was made in 2006-2007 as opposed to the first movie which was released in 1998 and the second released in 2001. There are a lot of extras including deleted scenes, a commentary track by director Brett Ratner, outtakes, a featurette on the visual effects, a production diary, and a 1.5 hr making-of documentary. So, there is a lot there if you like watching the extras.
Overall, the movie is okay. It has some funny moments and a lot of action. Chan can still do a lot even though he is definitely getting older. It is not, however, as good as either of the first two movies and like a lot of trilogies, especially those with a comedy bent, tends to recycle jokes. Chan and Tucker still have very good chemistry and work off of each other well. Ultimately, though, it feels like they just made the movie to get a trilogy, and did not put a lot of effort into making a better movie. Not that the first two were masterpieces, but they were better. One bright spot in the movie is the Taxi driver George, played by Yvan Attal, who steals pretty much every scene he is in. If you are a fan of the first two movies I do think this is worth watching once, but it is not something that I would say warrants repeat viewings.
