Rush Hour 3
Studio: New Line Cinema
Rated: PG-13
Cast: Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan
Director: Brett Ratner
WorkNameSort: Rush Hour 3
Our Rating: 1.50
Brett Ratner began his feature-film career as quite possibly one of the worst directors to come out of the ’90s; he was (and is) the complete opposite of the indie rebels who took over Hollywood around the same time his Money Talks (1997) was released. The next year, he cashed in on the unexpected chemistry of Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in the first Rush Hour, but ever since, aside from the exception of Rush Hour 2, his movies have become progressively worse ‘ The Family Man, Red Dragon, After the Sunset. And last year he assassinated X-Men: The Last Stand with his mind-boggling incompetence. With his latest, Rush Hour 3, whatever magic between Chan and Tucker that he was able to inadvertently capture the first two times around is finally swallowed up in the black hole that is his non-talent. Here’s the plot (it’s really this simple): The two detectives travel to France to reveal the heads of the violent Triad gang, literally teach the French the coolness of American gun violence and to transform the Eiffel Tower into an ineffective set piece like Ratner did with both the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz in X-3. Wow. Can’t wait to see what he does next!
This article appears in Aug 8-14, 2007.