Rush Hour 2

8/4/01
Chief Inspector Lee: Jackie Chan
Det. James Carter: Chris Tucker
Ricky Tan: John Lone
Hu Li: Zhang Ziyi
Agent Isabella Molina: Roselyn Sanchez
Steven Reign: Alan King

Chan and Tucker return to this follow up to the successful 1998 film.  There is very little set up and the film just dives right in.  Possibly because it assumes the audience has already seen Rush Hour or more probably because it relies so heavily on the cop-buddy genre formula that no set up is needed.  As such, Rush Hour2 is less of sequal than it is a continuation of Rush Hour.

The film picks up in Hong Kong where Det. Carter is on vacation with his new buddy, Insp. Lee acting as host and guide.  However the vacation is interrupted when Lee must investigate a bombing of the U.S. Embassy, with Carter in tow.  The plot is fairly throw away as it is an excuse to send Lee and Tucker all over in Hong Kong, back to L.A., and then to Las Vegas.

With an action film that has a flimsy plot, its best to look at the good and the bad.  First the good.  The film does a pretty good job of reversing the fish-out-of-water roles from the first film.  Now Tucker is the stranger in a strange land while Chan is the veteran cop on his own turf.  Tucker is perfect as the clearly clueless American in Asia which further highlights Chan's role as the stud muffin.  Rush Hour2 improves upon the original by allowing Chan to be Chan.  The fight scenes are more intricate and play to Chan's strengths.  Zhang Ziyi does a great job playing the Triad heavy, gleefully inflicting pain and punishment towards the heroes.  Not to mention the babe factor is further heightened by Rosely Sanchez (hey, I'm a guy).

Now the bad.  Once the plot moves back to the states, things just get silly.  It bounces from location to location in apparent search for better set pieces and cameos.  And once the film moves away from Hong Kong, it pretty much destroys the role reversal it had established and Tucker just turns into a obnoxious loud mouth in Amerca.  Also I winced at a couple of the jokes that relied on tired Asian stereotypes: eating dogs, that we all look alike, etc.  Perhaps most disturbingly, the portrayal of the massage parlor.  Maybe I'm being a little to PC or reactionary.  I was able to overlook the jokes under the theory it was another example of Tucker's obnoxiousness.

Well, should you see this film?  Yes, despite its obvious flaws, Rush Hour2 is entertaining.  I found myself laffing more often than not and marvelling at Chan's abilities.  Tucker is in his motor-mouth form and the law of averages guarantees that he will say something funny every 5 minutes.  Now would I pay full price?  Probably not, save your bucks and go during the matinee.  And remember to stick around for the out takes during the credits.  Its just as funny as the rest of the movie.