I seem to be having some problem with my host since when I got home, I couldn’t access both Atma Xplorer’s root page as well as my host’s cp. I’ve sent a support ticket about this. Hopefully it doesn’t happen again because if it does, I’ll either be looking for a new host or upgrading my current account. Anyways on with the review.

I was supposed to go to school today but the typhoon changed my plans and classes were canceled so I decided to watch a movie with my girlfriend. It was a choice between Rush Hour 3 and Surf’s up. I love penguins but I guess past successes goaded me to watch the former. Penguins can’t do kung-fu anyway.

Characters:
You’ll find the staple Rush Hour 3 characters, Jackie-chan as Lee, Chris Tucker as James Carter, Tzi Ma as Ambassador Han and Jingchu Zhang as the grown-up Soo Yang. Chris Tucker is much more rotund now, probably due to his lack of activity in the silver screen and Jackie looks more and more his age. For her part, Jingchu’s appearance in the roster really surprised me. I had several more “loli” themed women that would fit Soo Yang’s character but in the end she seemed just fine. The biggest gamble I think in the line-up is Hiroyuki Sanada because although he has much experience in acting, about 95% of his works was in Japanese. His other English performance is on the movie Sunshine which was shown a few weeks ago.

Plot:
Ambassador Han is about to reveal the traid’s greatest secret, he gets shot, Lee finds out that the shooter is his brother and that Soo Yang is in danger so he asks the Varden Reynard for help who turns out to be ——

If you can complete the thought of that you’ve just cracked the whole movie. It’s pretty straight forward. No hidden agendas, side-winding plot twists just pure, unadulterated ‘save the day stuff. ‘

Storytelling:
Rush Hour 3 focuses more on comedy, there’s no question about it. Any avid movie goer can tell the gist plot 5 minutes into the movie. For the director’s part, his storytelling for the movie was straightforward. He highlighted the points where the movie sell (mainly the gags and comic reliefs) and skimmed over some details which would divert the audience’s attention from Chris Tucker’s speedy vocabulary. At least he got Cafilcafish right this time.

My major qualm is that the movie has some racist points to it. Like the part where James Carter admitted arresting Iranian scientists because he thougt they were terrorists and the oart where he and the cab driver George exchanged views on how they see each other’s country. I’m not certain if the script was made that way but that’s definitely costing a point from the final score. It’s low to drain gags from racist comments when you have 2 experienced comedians ready and able to do it for you.

Other Stuff:
If Evan Altmighty was to SHEEEEEEEEEEEEP then Rush Hour 3 is to CHEESE! (referring to bloopers at the end of the film, a staple of Jackie’s movies).

Rush Hour 3 is a fun movie built on the amazing chemistry between it’s 2 actors. I can’t describe it any more or any less because there it won’t change the fact that it’s more bare in content that the former titles. It doesn’t show anything innovative and yet manages to pull out laughs even when you expect it.

One thing I should note in detail though is that there are less intense fight scenes in Rush Hour 3 that any Jackie fan had grown to love. This probably because Jackie is now 53. Many actors had retired before even reaching 40 and yet he’s still pushing strong. Admittedly though, I was expecting more flashy stunts but instead I got more laughs. The appearance of the Kungfu err.. (extra) big guy, Sun Ming Ming and the gags with Yu and Mi was simply classic. A little less thought of yes but funny nonetheless.

In a way it’s good for the franchise. If Director Brett Ratner decides to end the series here, then he would’ve give justice to the whole Rush Hour name. The latest installment is not the best of 3 but does certainly fit as a good ending.

Rating 7/10 Fun, but it’ve been better