Rush Hour-Blame or Thank Chan and Tucker
Good god, how many more freakin' times can this film be made? The cop-buddy movie, where one cop is out of his element, in some way or another, and the other cop is irritated or befuddled (how often do you see befuddled in a review?) has been done quite a few times before. And, of yeah, its usually a interracial cop-buddy movie. Lethal Weapon and Beverly Hills Cop come to mind and between those two film factories haven't there been about 25 or 30 films? Regardless, we have seen this all before, but, and here is the but. Chan and Tucker do have good chemistry and comedic timing and overall it barely manages to save the film. Chan and Tucker save Rush Hour, not director Brett Ratner and not writers Ross LaManna or Jim Kouf, who have penned surprisingly few screenplays between them.
Not that the story is that essential of course, but Chan's character, Inspector Lee is sent to America from Hong Kong as part of an investigation where Inspector Lee is teamed up with Detective Carter (Chris Tucker). There is a lot of tension at first, but ultimately, the two learn to work together and have lots of wacky fun. No formula here.
The second saving grace of the film is Chan's martial arts footwork, which is not on par with some of his previous films, but still adds to the entertainment value of the film. Chan is a serious professional in everything he does and that really comes across on the screen.
Rush Hour is one of those light, fluffy movies that is a safe date film and a relatively safe film for older kids, but it is no masterpiece. It is, what it is and you shouldn't expect more out of it than some escapist fun and judged by that specific standard Rush Hour fairs well enough.
Story C- (Pretty recycled story serves the jokes and stunts.)
Acting B (The comedic timing of Chan and Tucker save the day.)
Visuals B (Some nice enough martial arts and stunt action keep Rush Hour visually interesting.)
Originality/Innovation C- (Not too much original here folks in terms of screenplay or style.)
Enjoyability Grade C+
Home Theater/HD Factor B-
Overall Grade C+ (What Rush Hour really has going for it is its broad international appeal and low budget of somewhere in the $30 to $40 million range in 1998 with a box-office take of over $200 million dollars. This is the kind of return the suits dream about, every night in fact. Yet, it is Chan and Tucker that make this fly. Two lesser committed leads and this film likely went unnoticed.)
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