Rush Hour

There's a lot of hate on IMDb for this series, but you know, it's not all that bad. It's a standard buddy cop series, a little dim-witted humor, a bit of banter, "special" moments, shooting and fighting. It's nothing you haven't seen a million times before, but at the same time, it's nothing haven't seen done much worse before.

I think the problem people have is they're comparing it with the movies. Obviously this movie's attempt at Jackie Chan-style fight scenes is going to be pretty disappointing, but they do try, and I've seen worse fights on TV. And quite honestly, I never totally connected to Chris Tucker and kind of like the TV guy better. And while the series is quite inferior to the first movie, and somewhat inferior to the third, it's really no worse than the second.

This is not to say that I play to keep watching. I saw 3 episodes, and they were all okay, and if there wasn't much else to watch on TV I would watch more, but truthfully, even among mindless TV series, you can do better than Rush Hour.

But it's fine.

Jonathan Lee (Jon Foo) is a no-nonsense kung fu fighting cop from Hong Kong. His sister Kim is eager to prove herself to him. She gets an assignment and assumed killed by a Chinese gang while guarding a transport to LA. Jonathan is partnered with fast-talking irreverent LAPD detective James Carter (Justin Hires) on the case. Kim reveals that she was actually part of the gang. Jonathan and James continue the team. Didi Diaz (Aimee Garcia) is a fellow detective. Gerald Page (Page Kennedy) is James' low-life criminal informant and cousin. Their boss Captain Lindsay Cole (Wendie Malick) discovers that Kim is actually working undercover to bring down the gang.

This show has 13 episodes and canceled after 7 although the writing was on the wall before the pilot aired. Copying from a movie has not been a terribly successful strategy. Justin Hires is a functional fast-talking black guy. He's essentially a lesser but workable copy. Jon Foo is a few step down. He is stiff and Jackie Chan is not stiff. That keeps the chemistry lackluster. Over time, they are able to build up to a functional TV police procedural with some minor chemistry. However, it runs out of time before it could find its feet.

It's not on par with it's Movie predecessors, but for a TV show, it was not that bad. It's very surprising that the show is now Canceled while shows with much less attraction are still going on. The dynamic between the two lead actors were good, jokes sometimes missed to hit but when it hit, it was hilarious. I've watched all the episodes, and I'm glad that I did. They should come back with better writing and humor and less cliché. Sometimes the outcome got too predictable and the comedy was dry. But overall it was pretty enjoyable for my taste. No one can replace Jackie Chan but I didn't think Jon Foo was doing a bad job. The action was good for a TV budget. Justin Hires was doing good too. Felt refreshing compared to Chris Tucker's high pitch voice, still, irreplaceable. I really hope they come back better, stronger and funnier.

The first episode wasn't the best start to this show. I gave it a second chance.

Been looking for a good buddy cop TV series. ... so I am grasping at anything.

It has become a procedural show after the first episode.

Acting isn't the best of things ... script is average. Comedy aspect is typical... Hope it gets better, the more I watch the more it grows on me.

Hope the actors come into their own instead of trying to become the next Chris Tucker / Jackie Chan.

I shall keep watching it.

The tough thing about having a reboot with none of the original actors is that it loses its appeal somewhat to viewers that are expecting the same punch in terms of acting and action. The other difficult thing to produce is the same feel of a movie in a TV series. But that's where the expectations really differ and should be taken into account. Different actors take over and those who are really looking for a character, or interpretation of a character, similar to Jackie Chan or Chris Tucker's style are going to feel like there's something missing when these elements are tweaked (probably more so for Lee's character than Carter's in terms of style). That does not make this bad, just different.

In terms of the TV series packing that similar punch to the movies, they're trying to build a story over an extended period of time. It will not produce the same instantaneous payoff as a movie, which still doesn't make it bad. I'm pretty sure the budget isn't as large as the movies ($33 million, estimated for the original Rush Hour) but that honestly doesn't seem to stop them from including some good fight scenes, chases and developing relationships between the characters.

I read in another review that someone found Jon Foo (Lee's actor) to be slow and sluggish. I'll let the pilot speak for itself, as I would say much to the contrary. He proves to be agile and an interesting martial artist. In terms of comedic timing and chemistry, I actually found there to be a lot to enjoy. Similar to the movies, Lee is mostly the stoic, by- the-book character, and Carter is the louder, bolder, break-the-rules- when-necessary foil. I think the rambunctious quick wittedness of Carter/Hires' character and Lee/Foo's deadpan delivery really complement each other. I mean p.c. or not p.c., this is still the similar east meets west, funny, action-packed (maybe not as much as the movies but still good) Rush Hour that I knew and loved. Whether, as another user mentioned in their review, they need to move into the 21st century and take into consideration the more conservative approach to comedy for television regarding race, bear in mind that other successful television shows actually use race and stereotypes as part of their formula (such as Blackish) and find a way to open a conversation and make it funny. In Rush Hour, despite all of these stereotypes you see (which honestly are a nod to the original movies, references peppered throughout) they still show the relationship between two polar opposites in terms of culture and personality (like the original Rush Hour movies) and that they overcome and are able to cultivate a bond based on mutual respect and friendship.

Lastly, these actors are working really hard to make a fun show for us. So to all of the cast and crew who made this series possible, keep going! There are fans out there who appreciate the work you're putting into making this series!