Rush Hour 2

3/4

Starring: Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan, John Lone, Ziyi Zhang, Roselyn Sanchez, Alan King

Rated PG-13 for Action, Violence, Language and Some Sexual Material

The original "Rush Hour" was an almost perfect blend of action and comedy.  It had the sensational fights and stunts that raised the adrenaline and was consistently hilarious.  The chemistry between the two leads (and the box office numbers) necessitated a sequel.  It would, perhaps, be unfair to expect it to rise to the level of the original.  I mean, in the pantheon of action comedies, what else comes close?  "True Lies," sure.  But that had Ah-nuld, Jim Cameron, and a budget that was about three times larger.  "Rush Hour 2" isn't in that same league, but it has more than enough action and laughs to satisfy.

LAPD Detective James Carter (Tucker) is following his new buddy Lee (Chan) back to Hong Kong for a much-needed vacation.  But Lee is in work mode, and that prevents Carter from his insatiable desire to live it up.  They aren't in Hong Kong for long before a bomb explodes in the US Embassy, killing two people.  Lee takes up the case, much to Carter's irritation.  That's puts them in conflict with the local Triads, lead by the sophisticated gangster Ricky Tan (Lone) and the deadly Hu Li (Zhang).

The plot of "Rush Hour 2" is even more bare bones than the original, which was itself Buddy Action Comedy 101.  True, no one goes to a movie starring Jackie Chan for anything resembling depth or originality (he tried that a few years ago with "The Foreigner," but the less said about that, the better).  But even by those standards, this feels like a series of sketches and set pieces strung together with a story resembling dental floss.  A script with a better ironed out story would have given the action and the comedy (the only reason a person goes to a movie like this) a firmer foundation.  It would make them seem more organic and less desperate.

Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker know what to do, and Brett Ratner lets them do it.  Chris Tucker is as much of a live wire as he was in the first installment, blissfully unaware of how obnoxious and offensive he is but too arrogant to recognize being denied his dignity.  Jackie Chan was getting older at the time, and it shows in his lack of stunts (according to Roger Ebert, he complained that Director Brett Ratner didn't give him enough time to choreograph his trademark action sequences).  The supporting cast, which includes the menacing John Lone, the exotic Roselyn Sanchez and veteran comic Alan King, is just fine.  None has much to do (relatively speaking), but they do their jobs and everyone is clearly having fun.  Special mention has to go to then-breakout star Ziyi Zhang.  She doesn't have many lines and only one in English (in fact, she didn't speak English at all at the time of filming, so Jackie Chan had to interpret for her), but boy does she have an expressive face.  Hu Li is as beautiful as she is dangerous, and much of that has to do with the actress's body language.

The biggest flaw (other than the threadbare plot) is that the sense of balance is off.  In the original, Chan and Tucker felt evenly matched.  Both of them had equal opportunities to shine.  Here, it's mostly Tucker with Chan simply being the exasperated straight man.  Chan is just as capable as his co-star when it comes to getting laughs, and the decision to give the majority of the yuks to Tucker throws the film off balance.  It allows the comic to go too far.  Case in point: there's a scene with a casino dealer (played by Saul Rubinek in a cameo) that he accuses of being racist.  Maybe it's because Rubinek plays it completely straight or because the scene was just a bad idea, but it's uncomfortable rather than funny.

Still, you get what you pay for.  You want action?  "Rush Hour 2" has it.  You want laughs?  It has that too.  That's all a person can ask for in a movie like this.