Review: Rush Hour 2: Relax and kick back

Geoff Carter

Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2001 | 3:26 a.m.

Rush Hour 2

Grade: Three stars

Starring: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, John Lone and Zhang Ziyi.

Screenplay: Jeff Nathanson.

Director: Brett Ratner.

Rated: PG13 for action violence, language and some sexual material.

Running time: 105 minutes.

Studios creating bogus movie critics, publicists plowing indiscriminately through crowds in borrowed SUVs - oh yes, the entertainment industry has gotten serious about killing us dead. Some say it was the cool reception to "Pearl Harbor," or perhaps the underwhelming sales 'N Sync's latest album that sparked this barrage of physical and psychological warfare; others say it's a delayed passive-aggressive reaction to Joe Lieberman. Whatever the case, as the aforementioned bombs would seem to indicate, Hollywood is out to get us.

In terms of mainstream Hollywood entertainment, "Rush Hour 2" is the first olive branch in a summer of near-unremitting hostility. It's a simple buddy picture, with a simple story, some hilarious dialogue and great action - and not once is the terrible suffering of billionaire Hollywood executives invoked through clumsy metaphor. Even the benign "Shrek" demanded its audience be industry-savvy - imagine Jeffrey Katzenberg leaning over the theater seat and hoarsely whispering in your ear, "Don't you just hate Michael Eisner for what he did to me?"

"Rush Hour 2" doesn't want you to think of that stuff - in fact, it doesn't want you to think at all. The sequel reunites Hong Kong detective Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) with motor-mouthed Los Angeles cop James Carter (Chris Tucker), points them in the direction of a counterfeiting case that spans two continents and two villains (John Lone and Alan King), throws two alluring, deadly obstacles in their path (Roselyn Sanchez and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's" Zhang Ziyi) -- and sends them on their usual rounds.

Chan decimates his opponents with his balletic kung fu while Tucker talks a blue streak and the story jumps from Hong Kong to Los Angeles to Las Vegas with only the slightest of explanations. Remember those Bing Crosby / Bob Hope "Road To..." movies? "Rush 2" is the same kind of film, except Bing can do dazzling flips and kicks, and Hope ... well, Hope is largely the same.

What keeps "Rush 2" from becoming one of those films is the surprises planted in the road - some by director Brett Ratner (Hong Kong looks gorgeous and Vegas acquits itself cinematically for the first time since who knows when), some through unexpectedly solid performances (Lone and King both play completely straight). And some are just, well, surprises for their own sake - look for a brief cameo by a gifted young actor who obviously wanted to be able to say he did a film fight, however brief, with Jackie Chan.

But the main attraction - the unlikely buddy team of Chan and Tucker - is the main reason to see "Rush 2." Both have tightened their individual skills, to varying degrees - Tucker can now execute a few believable kicks, and Chan is more adept at translating his terrific natural comedic timing into English. Take one funny scene (one of many, actually) in which Tucker gamely tries speaking Chinese to a roomful of gangsters; when met with blank stares, he turns to Chan and demands an explanation.

"You told everyone to get out their samurai swords," he says, "and shave your butt."

It's a low, predictable shot, but at least it's not self-conscious. Since "Rush Hour 2" isn't holding its breath, waiting for you to get the jokes, you're able to relax right along with it and have the best time you've had in a theater in a long while. Thanks, Hollywood, for not running us over one more time and telling us we loved every minute of it.