...and we're back!I haven't had to dip into my Nutra Grain bar stash yet. I've got three movies to go and I have to pace myself.
Up next was Rush Hour 3 (because Rush Hour 2 left so many unanswered questions). I kid, I kid because I love. I actually REALLY enjoy Rush Hour 2.
Though Rush Hour 3 is more overtly a cash grab than most other threequels. Spider-Man 3 followed a strong second effort, as did Bourne Ultimatum. The second and third Pirates movies went hand in hand, while Ocean's Thirteen existed mostly to make up for Ocean's Twelve. As for Shrek 3…ok, so Shrek 3 was totally a cash grab too.
Still, I enjoyed Rush Hour 3. I mean, it was a bad movie. What plot existed had something to do with Carter (Chris Tucker) and Lee (Jackie Chan) tracking the Chinese Triads to Paris (obviously! Where else would the Chinese meet?)
The movie also featured Max Von Sydow, one of several actors who, when I see them onscreen I never trust them based on some past performance. This list includes James Cromwell (L.A. Confidential) Bob Gunton(Shawshank Redemption) and a few others I can't think of right now. Von Sydow's on that list for Minority Report. This guy's been around forever. I mean, he was the "old priest" in The Exorcist. That came out in 1973! (Any movie actors you just don't trust?)
Anyway, back to this junky movie. I'm not sure why, but Chris Tucker just makes me laugh. I'm 80 percent sure it's the voice. It's a shame that he only comes out from whatever rock he lives under to make Rush Hour movies. Sure, the jokes he trades with Jackie Chan are pseudo racist, but this movie, like the others in the series don't try to be anything more than escapist fun. I still don't really understand how his character can afford to wear some of the nicest suits I've ever seen, but whatever.
Jackie Chan has slowed down a bit with age, but he still pulls off some impressive stunts in the movie, including a good chase down Parisian streets with their overeager, wannabe-American French cabdriver (I enjoyed that guy) and a cool sequence at the end of the movie atop the Eiffel Tower.
It's also good to see a movie and actors (and stuntmen) not drowned in the same old special effects. That being said, I hope this is the last film in the series, because, as much as I like seeing Tucker and Chan together, they're sort of out of ideas. Where would they even go next? The Bahamas? New Jersey?
The film moved at a brisk pace (only 90 minutes), kept me entertained and made me laugh out loud a few times(Tucker mostly), which is exactly what I was looking for in an end-of-the-summer movie.
Rush Hour 3...C+
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