"Rush Hour 3"
Rated: PG-13
Starring: Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan
Directed by Brett Ratner
Runtime: 90 min.
The opening scene of "Rush Hour 3" sets the tone - sometimes funny other times annoyingly unfunny - for the remaining 90 minutes of the action-packed comedy.
Carter (Chris Tucker) and Lee (of course played by Jackie Chan) are at it again on official police business that takes them out the country to combat French bad guys. Romping in Paris, the audience meets the funniest character of the movie, the American-hating, French cab driver, George.
George comes around to liking Americans when Tucker psyches him into thinking he is a part of the mission. George and his cab are used in the necessary-to-every-action-flick-cool-high-speed chase where Tucker's jokes are overshadowed by the tag-team beat down on the wheels of motorcycle-riding bad guys.
Tucker's constant complaints continue throughout the movie, along with his woman chasing while on the hunt for bad guys. These antics annoy not only his partner, but they are at times not only unnecessary but just too much for the audience to handle. Even though these rants are a staple of the "Rush Hour" movies, this one would have been much better had the director kept in mind that sometimes less is more.
Only when the laughter stops do audiences realize that the plot is actually pretty thin. There won't be any hearty laughs, but having a short run time works by keeping viewers from expecting more.
As the third installment of the "Rush Hour" trilogy, the movie doesn't outdo the first two, but it manages not to be worse. Instead, it fits right in to sequel mode and does its job of being a cool action movie for teenagers.
Daily Egyptian writer Jakina Hill can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 275 or jhill@siude.com.
