Rush Hour
1998
Cast: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Tom Wilkinson, Chris Penn, Elizabeth Pena
Genre: Buddy Action Comedy
Worldwide Box Office Gross: over $200 million
Plot: A loyal and dedicated Hong Kong inspector teams up with a reckless and foulmouthed L.A.P.D cop to rescue the Chinese Consul's kidnapped daughter, whilst trying to arrest a dangerous crime lord
'So-So Lethal Weapon Meets Rumble In The Bronx Effort, Yet Far From Chan's Best'
Rush Hour is a 48 hrs meets Lethal Weapon meets kung fu hijinks affair in this Brett Ratner 1998 action-comedy effort where a pair of mismatched cops hailing from different cultures, who trade insults, remarks have to work together to rescue a young girl who has been kidnapped.
Whilst I am pleased to see Jackie Chan achieving worldwide fame and success and attained a global recognition that not even the great Bruce Lee had achieved, career-wise, I have to say with regards to his U.S based movies, I do have a few reservations towards them. His transition to Hollywood has been both staggering and incredible in such a way, and yet at the same time, this is questionable in terms of the quality of the output of the movies he's churned out. For newbies and people who just discovered Jackie's talents via Rush Hour, it's nice to see that they have been exposed to some of his trademark styles in acting, and in particular action comedy. They enjoy being amazed by some of the stunts he does and the moves he pulls off.
Having been exposed to his earlier stuff like Police Story 1 and 2, Drunken Master, My Lucky Stars and Project A, I can definitely say that Chan has done (far) better in those movies than in most of his Western offerings. Including this one and the subsequent Rush Hour sequels. Therefore, my level of disappointment in this film is more to do with that with Rush Hour, Jackie is half as good here as he was in Police Story for instance. We hold the likes of Western actors to account when it comes to quality movies, and with Jackie Chan, the same should apply to his movies as well, and in Rush Hour this isn't his very best.
The film is very formulaic in as far as action martial arts movies and American martial arts movies go, with nothing really big or promising to set it apart and in this movie, Jackie is very much watered down from his Hong Kong efforts. Rush Hour feels more like Beverly Hills Cop meets Rumble In The Bronx and in most cases, for me, it is a disappointment. Some of the quality of the action and fight sequences here is far from the level that was in Police Story. Watching that final 40 mins or so of that fight in the shopping mall, the action in that entire scene was so relentless, fast-paced, frenetic, but also the action was not dumbed down: it was raw, there were no constraints, anything goes. Whereas the last 40 mins of Rush Hour and the action is diluted. A couple of his scenes were edited and trimmed down, much to his and the film's detriment. The stunts didn't make my jaw drop completely and the fights are far too small. Sadly, under Brett Ratner's direction he doesn't allow Jackie to be at his creative best, that as a result, his efforts in this film are sub-par at best.
If only Hollywood had and would realise how much talent he has and just let him unleash it for the whole world to see and let Jackie make real and proper martial arts movies with their cash and ones as good as Police Story, Drunken Master. Sadly though, with Jackie in his mid-late 60s, this will never materialise.
Having said all that, for a typically mainstream action comedy for general audiences, Rush Hour achieves what it is set out to do - even if this is a very restrained Jackie Chan performance he gives here and the story itself wears extremely thin and is very convoluted. As for the humour, it's kind of okay, but nothing that made me go 'hahaha'. There is a racial subtext with some of the jokes, which whilst some may find it's more malicious than derogatory in tone, this will not sit well with the rest.
Meanwhile, Chris Tucker is an acquired taste - he is like a cross between Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock and acts as a wise guy to Chan's straight man role. Me personally, he's all right, in small doses although his fast-talking antics will grate some audiences.
Jackie Chan once said that Hong Kong directors know action, whilst American directors know story when it comes to differences in action films, and I have got to say, I agree with him and that this notion rings true with the Rush Hour movies.
1998
Cast: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Tom Wilkinson, Chris Penn, Elizabeth Pena
Genre: Buddy Action Comedy
Worldwide Box Office Gross: over $200 million
Plot: A loyal and dedicated Hong Kong inspector teams up with a reckless and foulmouthed L.A.P.D cop to rescue the Chinese Consul's kidnapped daughter, whilst trying to arrest a dangerous crime lord
'So-So Lethal Weapon Meets Rumble In The Bronx Effort, Yet Far From Chan's Best'
Rush Hour is a 48 hrs meets Lethal Weapon meets kung fu hijinks affair in this Brett Ratner 1998 action-comedy effort where a pair of mismatched cops hailing from different cultures, who trade insults, remarks have to work together to rescue a young girl who has been kidnapped.
Whilst I am pleased to see Jackie Chan achieving worldwide fame and success and attained a global recognition that not even the great Bruce Lee had achieved, career-wise, I have to say with regards to his U.S based movies, I do have a few reservations towards them. His transition to Hollywood has been both staggering and incredible in such a way, and yet at the same time, this is questionable in terms of the quality of the output of the movies he's churned out. For newbies and people who just discovered Jackie's talents via Rush Hour, it's nice to see that they have been exposed to some of his trademark styles in acting, and in particular action comedy. They enjoy being amazed by some of the stunts he does and the moves he pulls off.
Having been exposed to his earlier stuff like Police Story 1 and 2, Drunken Master, My Lucky Stars and Project A, I can definitely say that Chan has done (far) better in those movies than in most of his Western offerings. Including this one and the subsequent Rush Hour sequels. Therefore, my level of disappointment in this film is more to do with that with Rush Hour, Jackie is half as good here as he was in Police Story for instance. We hold the likes of Western actors to account when it comes to quality movies, and with Jackie Chan, the same should apply to his movies as well, and in Rush Hour this isn't his very best.
The film is very formulaic in as far as action martial arts movies and American martial arts movies go, with nothing really big or promising to set it apart and in this movie, Jackie is very much watered down from his Hong Kong efforts. Rush Hour feels more like Beverly Hills Cop meets Rumble In The Bronx and in most cases, for me, it is a disappointment. Some of the quality of the action and fight sequences here is far from the level that was in Police Story. Watching that final 40 mins or so of that fight in the shopping mall, the action in that entire scene was so relentless, fast-paced, frenetic, but also the action was not dumbed down: it was raw, there were no constraints, anything goes. Whereas the last 40 mins of Rush Hour and the action is diluted. A couple of his scenes were edited and trimmed down, much to his and the film's detriment. The stunts didn't make my jaw drop completely and the fights are far too small. Sadly, under Brett Ratner's direction he doesn't allow Jackie to be at his creative best, that as a result, his efforts in this film are sub-par at best.
If only Hollywood had and would realise how much talent he has and just let him unleash it for the whole world to see and let Jackie make real and proper martial arts movies with their cash and ones as good as Police Story, Drunken Master. Sadly though, with Jackie in his mid-late 60s, this will never materialise.
Having said all that, for a typically mainstream action comedy for general audiences, Rush Hour achieves what it is set out to do - even if this is a very restrained Jackie Chan performance he gives here and the story itself wears extremely thin and is very convoluted. As for the humour, it's kind of okay, but nothing that made me go 'hahaha'. There is a racial subtext with some of the jokes, which whilst some may find it's more malicious than derogatory in tone, this will not sit well with the rest.
Meanwhile, Chris Tucker is an acquired taste - he is like a cross between Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock and acts as a wise guy to Chan's straight man role. Me personally, he's all right, in small doses although his fast-talking antics will grate some audiences.
Jackie Chan once said that Hong Kong directors know action, whilst American directors know story when it comes to differences in action films, and I have got to say, I agree with him and that this notion rings true with the Rush Hour movies.
The first in the series, and a supposed, fresh twist on the buddy cop formula with the Chinese and Black cops that was considered as the breakthrough for Jackie Chan's Hollywood career, nowadays, Rush Hour is otherwise, tired, half-baked, and overwhelmingly uninspiring. Those who have never seen a Jackie Chan movie prior to Rush Hour, yet proclaiming that Rush Hour is their favourite and Jackie Chan's best effort, need to check out more of his 1970s and 1980s Hong Kong stuff, as well as 1992's Police Story 3.
Final Verdict:
It's mainly viewers who aren't fans of Jackie Chan's movies that will lap this one up, more so than fans of his earlier work. I for one thought it wasn't anything particularly special and that Chan has done exceedingly better with the likes of Police Story. If you love Jackie Chan but have yet to see Police Story, I recommend that you do so.
I can take and leave Chris Tucker, but it's the story I have a huge gripe with and it feels as though Rush Hour is just isn't as great as it was lauded as, three decades on.
As an American film, and be it a martial arts Western comedy film per se, Rush Hour is arguably head and shoulders above most of his offerings.... however, this is not a typical Jackie Chan movie, standards-wise that I've come to expect from him. Post-1998, despite its box office success and netting millions at the box office in 1998, Rush Hour has aged considerably; its appeal wears off after the fifth viewing for me, & thus, compared to many of Chan's earlier Hong Kong efforts, it's mediocre fare that doesn't just possess much of a rewatchability factor to the point I don't get sick of watching it many times.
This is a 1990's 48 Hrs, but without much of its charm to speak of.
Overall:
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