After 20 years of trying to break into Hollywood, Asian superstar Jackie Chan now has the U.S. market wired. The formula thats reaping profits for Chan is to pair him with an American actor--the blonde Owen Wilson in
Shanghai Noon and African American comedian Chris Tucker in
Rush Hour --and then kick back and let the franchise begin.
Rush Hour 2 rolls into theaters this week (and the film implies part 3 might be on the way) and
Shanghai Noon gives birth to
Shanghai Knights in 2002. These action comedies dont showcase Chan as well as his classic Hong Kong films have but they are hugely appealing and for a long time Chan fan its nice to see him finally getting recognition on this side of the Pacific.
Rush Hour 2 essentially picks up where the other ended. Hong Kong Officer Lee (Chan) and L.A. cop Carter (Tucker) are now on Lees home turf of Hong Kong. The two had been thrown together by chance on a case in the U.S. and now Carter wants a little R&R in China. But Lee is secretly working on a customs case and this gets the pair into immediate trouble with triad boss Ricky Tan (John Lone) and his lethal bodyguard ( Crouching Tigers Zhang Ziyi). The case involves counterfeit money and ultimately brings the pair to Las Vegas for a showdown .
Not much plot innovation here. Its the tried and true formula that made Rush Hour a smashTucker talks incessantly and Chan puts on a display of dazzling kinetic energy. Women (who are mostly sex objects oogled at by Carter and Lee), gays and most ethnic groups are made the butt of silly jokes and its too bad the comedy has to rely on such lame cliches to fill out the script.
Chan is obviously getting older. Gone are the truly spectacular stunts of Police Story and Project A, and in their place are mellower stunts and fights and creative sense of comedy to mask the fact that Chan is getting a hair slower. But Chan is still a stuntman extraordinaire and a charismatic screen presence. Nobody makes better use of common items to invigorate a fight--tin garbage cans, armchairs, packing tape, clothing--anything can go from passive to active to add clever innovation to stock action scenes. But wheres the final battle between Chan and rising star Zhang Ziyi? That would have been a blast instead of the jokey battle between Zhang and Tucker whose mouth moves faster than his fists.
The comic pairing of Chan and Tucker offers less easy rapport than the one between Chan and Owen Wilson in Shanghai Noon . Wilsons laid back persona comes across as less competitive and the two stars strike up a buddy-buddy screen partnership. With Tucker there seems to be more tension with Chan looking a bit impatient especially in the end credit outtakes. Plus Tucker somehow has managed to get first billing in the credits (something which hopefully is reversed for the Asian prints), which seems unfair to the veteran Chan who is as much if not more of a box office draw worldwide. Tucker may suffer in translation abroad but Jackies acrobatics speak a universal language. But despite this, the two strike up an amiable enough partnership to be entertaining.
Rush Hour 2 (rated PG-13 for action violence, language and some sexual material) is a crowd pleaser and should insure a continuation of Chans American franchise. -----
