Rush Hour 3

I wasn't expecting much walking into the theater. I mean, since it took them six long years to come out with the third installment, you'd think that this time around, the series has pretty much run out of energy. Plus, all of the bad reviews that I read before seeing it, didn't exactly make me feel that I was going to be impressed.

On the contrary, I was surprised by the performances of both Chan and Tucker. The story is fun, the characters are interesting, the comedy is sharp, and the action sequences are well done.

It was fun to watch the interplay between Tucker and Chan. Tucker being the outrageous, loud, and amusing Detective James Carter. And Chan, the straight-laced, 'good guy' Inspector Lee. The charisma is still there, just like it was since the first Rush Hour movie. This one seems to have plenty of more laughs and an even more exiting climax towards the end of the movie than the previous two. I definitely recommend seeing 'Rush Hour 3', for the comedy and action elements, and especially for fans of the series like myself.

Should movies make money, then the Hollywood rule of thumb is to make another, and another, until the franchise runs out of steam. The original Rush Hour was a Jackie Chan vehicle of sorts to break into Hollywood, and it made a lot of money with the mis-pairing opposite Chris Tucker in a buddy cop movie formula filled with action and comedy. Rush Hour 2 was made 3 years later and made even more money, but it took 6 years for the second sequel to be made, and 9 years for the entire trilogy to be done (pray tell, will there be another sequel?)

Is the franchise tired? Probably, yet probably not. Face it, it's Jackie Chan, and most of his films (with the exception of missteps such as Around the World in 80 Days) make Hollywood studios smile. You can rely on him to deliver the goods in any action comedy, but age unfortunately has caught up with him, not to mention as well the safer-than-safe minimal risks that studios in the West tend to take with its stars. The action sequences in Rush Hour 3 look a bit tired, tame, and very uninspiring, and what Jackie Chan can probably still do, has been whittled down to sequences that are just a pale shadow of what could have been.

Which leaves us with the comedy, thankfully still having its moments especially for those punchlines which deliver. Tucker again gets most of the snarky lines, and a target for those politically incorrect jokes, while dishing some of his own. If there's any hint of rudimentary character development after these years, is that his James Carter, besides having been relegated to traffic duties, managed to "half-chinese" himself, and no longer is that helpless cop who without his gun, can't kick a ball for nuts.

The plot is no rocket science, and in fact, the previous two movies just had something which could coast along from scene to scene, providing a platform either to get our heroes Lee (Chan) and his brother-from-another-mother James (Tucker) into fisticuffs, or provide something for laughs. The first had a kidnapping of a Chinese Consul's daughter which the duo had to investigate in the US, while the second brought them to Hong Kong on the trail of a counterfeiting scam. The third pits the detectives against Triads, and brings us full circle with the return of that little girl in the original movie, who's now all grown up, played by Chinese starlet Zhang Jingchu.

Zhang Jingchu follows in the footsteps of fellow compatriot Zhang Ziyi who starred in the previous sequel. But unlike Ziyi, Jingchu's role is sans martial arts, despite her character being a kungfu instructor. It's unfortunately a purely flower vase role, though she looks more fleshed and healthier than her druggy role in Protégé. Yvan Attal's supporting role as a French cab driver is actually more of a scene stealer - listen out for those jibes at America, though it's a little of a cop out how that eventually plays out. Some of the more totally insane moments involve those deliberate lost in translation moments, which are the more enjoyable moments in this movie.

Rush Hour 3 is similar in structure with its predecessors, and it does seem a tad familiar at times in the way the story gets developed, with only a change in locale, now set in Paris. It's basically an attempt to reunite the two stars in order to make another dent in the box office, so though they're back, this movie can't be taken all too seriously. It plays out like a cartoon for adults, though the local distributor decided to edit portions of the French revue scene to obta in a rating that everyone can go to.

If anything, stay behind for the outtakes, which triumphs over the main offering, hands down.

With all the complexities of the final installments of this years trilogies, this should be a welcome change of pace. Probably the worst of the series, but really not bad. Highly predictable were as I told the people I was sitting with who was behind it all and who the accomplices were. The movie in a whole is about an hour and twenty minutes. It has pretty humorous parts throughout and some good action scenes, but in all honesty, they could have been better. The chemistry between the two leads is still there which makes these movies fun in the first place. This was an unneeded yet entertaining entry into the series, but it is basically the love child of the first two. The outtakes as usual are the best part of the film. To wrap it up, if you enjoyed the first two, you will probably enjoy this one as well. Sure, you can see everything coming from a mile away but it still makes you laugh and still entertains. Take this for what it is and you will have a good time.

I admit it that it is funny and some jokes really make me laugh but now, we are focusing on the story plot which is straight-forward and its action scenes are not very impressive for a Jackie Chan movie. If you had watched Rush hour 1 and 2. You will realise that this movie is pretty much similar to the two movies. The director is the director of the big-action X-men 3. The jokes are the best in the movie, nothing else. With all the jokes, this seems to be more of a comedy more than a action movie. Even when they are fighting, they do not take things seriously. The only change is the event takes place in Paris. Other than that, this movie seems to be recycled.

The story is dead simple. Two buddies, Lee (Jackie Chan) and James (Chris tucker) go to Paris to find for more clues about the Chinese Triad crew. The story is something like that. And with jokes added.

Nothing is impressive. The jokes, some of them are the same dirty jokes and fighting scenes, Jackie Chan can do better than that. Though, it is straight-forward and has recycled jokes, I still had fun watching it. If only it had great action.

If you want to watch a Jackie Chan movie, this is harmless for you. It may be fun but you can't expect great action from this. The fight scenes are simple and last for around 5 minutes. It is not very worth to watch it in Cinema unless you have a lot of money to spare. It may be loud at some time but it is just like a comedy with some goofing-action. Unless you like Jackie Chan, you can wait for the DVD.

The Chinese Triads have a secret to keep n Jackie and Tucker sets out to Paris to find what the secret is. This forms the pin-point juncture of the movie surrounding which the plot revolves. Fun Packed, with a large chunk of recycled jokes with too little of Jackie Chan action , thats what I felt of the movie from a totally neutral perspective.But being a Jackie Chan fan that I am , the movie is an entertainer with loads of fun n chicks. Rush hour 3 evolves on predictable lines ,but still entertainment quotient remains pretty high throughout. The on screen chemistry between Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker is simply rocking . But for an avid Jackie fan like me nothing pains more than a movie , with him in the rolls and yet , not having the traditional breathtaking Jackie Stunts. But for a man aged 53 Jackie is still more fast , agile and flexible than most of his much younger co-stars. The last stunt atop the Eiffel tower was a masterstroke with Jackie and Tucker defying height and gravity to put up a creditable show .But yeah, the movie ought to be a disappointment for those who expected a still young, reckless and crazy Jackie running around and kicking arse of the do-no-gooders. There is less of the traditional slap stick comedy that one associates with Jackie Chan movies. On the whole, a must watch for Jackie fans with a very high quotient of entertainment value .