The third instalment of the long awaited rush hour trilogy came with a bang, as Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker hit the screens again; this was very much a movie "blow-out".
The film had a lot to deliver, would it really be able to live up to its hype? After recent finales of trilogies such as the Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Bourne franchises excelled. Proving themselves beyond the box office sales, it would be a real fight for the Rush Hour franchise to live up to expectations.
The storyline was set three years after the previous film, beginning with the familiar Chinese music. Although the actual film was set long after the previous two, with Rush Hour (1998), and Rush Hour Two in 2001, this is the type of film where the children would have to ask their dad what all the fuss was about, and the question is, will it really be shooting to the same audience it was 7 years ago?
Following on from the previous storyline, the film continues to base itself around the destruction of the triads; a crucial line in doing this is the fabled myth of "Shai-shen", which in brief is a list of triad "dragonheads". The quest of the two police officers is to attain this and bring about the fall of the Triads. Unfortunately, things never go so smoothly for the two action heroes, with startling CGI (Computer generated image), things really do "blow up" for the pair.
Jackie Chan's stunts, and Chris Tucker's humour, is not to be missed, the couple's on screen chemistry is the highlight of this film, their constant bickering and mockery of each other really does bring a warmth to the audience; sadly, this was the only part of the film that felt real.
With a crazed cab driver, a bald French woman, and a "Brother from another mother", this film seems to be set on its way for the hall of fame, alas no.
Predictably, the end follows a "surprising" turn, unfortunately, this film felt more like a final gasp for the rush hour franchise, and regrettably New Line Cinema made it so, once you'd seen the start of the film it was very easy to envisage what would happen at the end. And although this film has been in production for seven years, it felt more like it had taken the producers seven months, the scenes seemed to be an imitation of its predecessor Rush Hour 2, just on a different continent.
Even so the show must go on, so the audience were subjected to sit through ninety minutes of a narrative they had already seen, with the some-what "heroic" Inspector Lee (Chan), and Detective Carter (Tucker) constantly emerging from fights unscathed. This obviously wasn't going to be a tragic love filled ending between the two cops, finishing in true new line style, Brett Ratner brung about a happy ending, with the two dancing off down a Paris street. Wait hasn't this happened twice previously? Déjà vu no?
The only refreshingly new part of this film was the use of an actual new character, that's right; New Line Cinema actually did have auditions to recruit new characters. The character "George" brought about humour to the Europeans, not so much to the Americans though I'd imagine. The constant mockery and condemnation of America gave the viewers something new to laugh about, however short-lived; George really did put the views of all Europeans into a few beautifully phrased sentences.
The verdict must be that the film lacked important qualities which make a moving picture into a box office hit. It has to be said that the creators couldn't hide their intentions well enough, gluttony and greed echoed through every scene.