REVIEW
RUSH HOUR 2
Starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker
Directed by Brett Ratner
Opens Friday, August 3
Check listings
Okay sequel is exactly what you expect
Chan and Tucker do their thing, get paid
Why the hell are you reading this review? You know you’re just going to wind up watching Rush Hour 2 anyway. This film will be successful because of the way we watch movies these days – a small group of friends shows up at the multiplex, stares at the listings, and makes a selection based on which film sounds "sorta OK" to the most people.
RH2 will sound like a "sorta OK" viewing choice to a huge percentage of moviegoers. Everybody knows what to expect from a mismatched-buddy-cop movie. Grab any random person who hasn’t seen the film, and ask them what they think it’ll be like – I guarantee you they’ll be 99 per cent accurate. This sort of comfortable predictability works for McDonald's, and it works equally well for the film industry. People are going to buy their tickets, eat their popcorn, chuckle at the funny bits, sit patiently through the dull bits and walk out happy, repeating their favourite lines to their friends.
"Gosh, that was exactly what I expected it to be," they’ll grin, pleased with their foresight. "Hey – how was the movie?" somebody in the line might ask. "Sorta OK!" will come the cheerful reply.
Bug-eyed, helium-voiced hambone Chris Tucker got paid $20 million to do this picture (compared to the $3 million he got for its predecessor). It’s mind-boggling shit like this that makes one ponder the nature of overnight success – especially when Jackie Chan’s around. Chan spent three decades risking his life for his movies. He’s broken most of his bones, rolled around on burning coals and almost died from a fractured skull doing his trademark stunts. Now, after years of trying, he’s finally made it into the Hollywood mainstream, and his co-star is a vain nitwit who got a $17 million raise just for prancing and screaming. (By the way, what’s the holdup with Shanghai Noon 2? Is Owen Wilson holding out for a Harrier jump jet?)
Chan can’t be too happy about this situation. He doesn’t put nearly as much effort into his stunts and fight scenes as he did in his old movies, and I don’t blame him one bit. (Tucker demonstrates his appalling lack of professionalism during his hilarious end-credit blooper-reel – by taking a cellphone call in the middle of a shoot! Kick his ass, Jackie!)
The celebrated chemistry between Tucker and Chan is probably based on the fact that Chan can’t understand what the hell his co-star is saying. When you’re still trying to learn English, and your co-star goes through 10 pages of dialogue (most of it ad-libbed) in three seconds, the only thing you can do is stare at him with patient incomprehension, which turns out to be exactly right for the movie. (Chan’s a wonderful physical comedian in his own right – what a shame that Tucker’s non-stop babbling forces Jackie into the straight-man role.)
One of the genuine pleasures of this movie comes from seeing lovely 21-year-old Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star Zhang Ziyi repeatedly kick Chris Tucker in the head. ("Ka-thwack!" Yay! "Ka-thwack!" Do it again, Zhang! "KA-thwack!" Now this is worth $20 million! Whoohoo!) |
