Rush Hour 2 (2001) ½
cast: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Zhang Ziyi, John Lone, Roselyn Sanchez, and Alan King
director: Brett Ratner

As an afterthought: every time I think about "Rush Hour 2," I think about another thing that is wrong with it. Then I remember at how much I laughed...and laughed...and laughed. The film runs at about 2 hours and for around 1:45 min. I was laughing--sometimes too much--sometimes too loudly. I still smile when I think about Jackie Chan's character listening to Puff Daddy's "I'll Be Missing You" on a Hong Kong radio station. That's good comedy.

Unfortunately, "Rush Hour 2" isn't a good movie. It makes little use out of nearly everything involved (Tucker's mouth withstanding) all the way down to minor performances. The fish-out-of-water theme is still there picking up where the first film ended with Det. James Carter (machine gun comedian Chris Tucker) and Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) vacationing in Lee's native country of Hong Kong where triad bombers are running wild.

One bomb, courtesy of Hu Li (a female triad played by the sleek, sexy, and brutal Zhang Ziyi) explodes in Hong Kong's U.S. Embassy that kills two people interrupting Carter and Lee's much needed vacation.

However, so little of "Rush Hour 2" explodes. There is a cameo of Don Cheadle’s that is sure to please (even more so in his outtakes) and Chris Tucker's machine gun delivering had me rolling in the aisles, but what about everything else? The film has no plot whatsoever...none. I can't begin to describe it, because it literally doesn't exist.

There's no characterization either which really hurts. Oh sure, everyone knows what to expect from these people but there are no new surprises either. There are no new faucets of personality and the recent characters introduced for the sequel are underwritten as well. It's hard to believe that Zhang Ziyi from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and John Lone from "The Last Emperor" are given next to nothing to work with. Legendary comedian Alan King even gets snuffed in a supporting role, as does Hong Kong actor Kenneth Tsang who also appears in a glorified cameo. I can't say Roselyn Sanchez gets off any easier.

If you're looking for action, I'd advise that you look somewhere else. A lot of audiences felt that the original "Rush Hour" was too tame and watered down for the likes of Chan who kept mostly to a physical comedy that I enjoyed and felt worked for the formula brought to the table. This same formula would have worked here, however, the choreography is lackluster even for this kind of film. Chan has an amazing stunt involving a narrow escape...but that's about it.

Even Zhang Ziyi, who was so impressive in last year's "Crouching Tiger..." gets nothing more than sadistic punches and kicks, but nothing terribly interesting. Surprisingly, a climatic engagement with Chris Tucker never climaxes either which proves the scriptwriters were only after Tucker's mouth and nothing more.

Again I say this all regarding the fact that for almost two hrs. I never stopped laughing.

"Rush Hour 2" has met certain criticism from audiences and critics who felt that Chris Tucker's comedy aimed directly at the Chinese and Whites in the film was racist and unacceptable. It's obvious from these accusations that these same people know little of Tucker's routine. Yes, he's loud, yes he drifts off into rants, and yes, he is a mouthful of obnoxious humor, but because he aims his comedy at people who aren't Black, this makes him racist?

I watched Tucker years ago on "Russell Simon's Def Comedy Jam" where he poked fun at his economical situation (African-Americans). Tucker is a go for broke comedian who attacks everyone in sight and has yet to take prisoners. It's obvious that it doesn't matter who you are or what race you belong to for that matter to taste Tucker's sharp tongue of motor mouth humor.

I was laughing...so were the African-Americans in the theater...and the Asians...and, well you get the point.

People accusing cross over films of being racist has really gotten old.