© 2001 Filmmonthly.com
Rush Hour 2 (2001)
by Hank Yuloff
It's like Steven Segal with a sense of humor.
You can read Film Monthly's Paul Fischer's interviews with Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, or Zhang Ziyi by clicking on their links.
One of the few physics lessons I learned from Dr. Paley in high school was that in a vacuum, a body in motion will tend to stay in motion at a constant speed. I think that Chris Tucker's agent must have had the same thing in mind when advising Tucker not to take another film between Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2. The first one made him a star (though I think he stole the show back with The 5th Element) and he should now hold out for something befitting of a $20 million paycheck. Let the career coast on the success of the first one and Tucker would stay just as popular when Rush Hour went into cable and video. It sure was worth a second and third look for me.
The second law of physics that I sort of remembered from that class (I got a gift "C," by the way) is that when you cause something to happen to that body, it will react. With Rush Hour 2, we learned that paying $20 million to an actor doesn't get as much of a reaciton as it used to.
Please don't think I am totally panning this film. If you like Tucker and Chan in other movies, you won't be disappointed, but in all the interviews I heard director Brett Ratner doing, he kept saying he was constantly tinkering with the film to make it better and he wouldn't rest until it was perfect. He must still be awake because screenwriter Jeff Nathenson (Coyote Ugly) left him with a script full of holes and he created some other dumb stuff during the shooting. Case in point: Tucker must be a good 10 inches taller than Chan. At one point when they are tied up together, we see their feet flat on the ground but in 
the tight shots their heads are at the same level. Dumb and distracting stuff like that really should not happen.
Another stupid trick comes at the beginning of the movie when the bad guys try to get away from Chan. Instead of running away or blending into the crowd outside of a nightclub, eight of them climb up a bamboo scaffolding on the side of a building in plain view of everyone, including the clueless Tucker. Clearly this was put in the movie as a showcase for Chan, but it was a waste of story time.
I think it was great to see Tucker on the screen again. He and Jackie Chan make a great couple of guys in a buddy picture. But they already did one and that should have been enough unless there were enough new jokes to keep the franchise fresh. Unfortunately the best jokes in Rush Hour 2 are the ones that refer to the first Rush Hour: This time it was Chan who utters the immortal line, "Do YOU understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?" And it got the funniest reaction from the audience. Another time Chan, while driving, is bopping his head to the music like Tucker in the first installment.
As is the case in good buddy pictures and is true here, the plot is secondary as long as the good guys win and get the girl in the end. You know that going in. The hard part was figuring out which girl they are going to get: the hottie from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Zhang Ziyi, or newcomer Roselyn Sanchez.
Hint: It's got to be the one who speaks English. If you really want the story line, it revolves around their old friends the Hong Kong Triad, phoney printing plates and a way to launder $100 Million.
Chan does some great and unbelievable stunts. It's hard to imagine the physical shape this guy must be in. It's like Steven Segal with a sense of humor. And it sure would be fun to see him take on Jean-Claude Van Damme. Maybe some cameo down the road.
The worst thing about Rush Hour 2 for this reviewer is that I saw the movie the same weekend I saw the abysmal Scary Movie 2. The few times I laughed during that movie, it was harder than in Rush Hour 2. It is this point which makes me not able to give Rush Hour 2 more than a barely moderate "go see" recommendation. The second worst thing about the movie are the ending credits. They were funnier than the rest of the movie.
Hank Yuloff is an advertising executive living in the San Fernando Valley practising to sing like Jackie Chan. What? You didn't think he'd try doing some of his stunts, did you?
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