What can you say about Rush Hour 3? It’s fine. You’ll laugh a little bit. You’ll cringe at times. And you’ll hope like hell Ratner did all the wacky stuff on purpose — that this really is an odd homage to 80’s style buddy cop movies (right down to the jokes) and not a real attempt at something fresh. Rush Hour 3 is like the anti-Hot Fuzz. Instead of both paying tribute and creating something fresh it just goes for a carbon copy. Sometimes it’s funny, as the 80’s were funny, but sometimes it’s stale… as it’s been 20 years since this style of movie was popular.
Real quickly, let me differentiate between the newer versions of this genre such as Bad Boys. Or heck, even Miami Vice. Both of these titles are theoretically “buddy cop” movies but they are updated for our generation. Thus they have very little in common with Rush Hour 3, which is essentially Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan thrown into a plot that doesn’t matter so they can crack one liners.
Ah yes, the plot. Oh my. Well, Tucker and Chan are thrown into an international caper, pitted against the Triads gang. The Triads are an actual gang, and a movie that truly explored the inner-workings would have been a hell of a thing to see. Unfortunately the word is just used here to symbolize “people we are fighting against that are nefarious!” There’s nothing authentic or original to see in the plot, it’s pretty much all a walking punch line setup. And that’s okay precisely half the time, which is why the film is getting the grade of “Average.” Clever, huh?
I quite liked Chris Tucker in this but it’s hard to tell if that’s just because I miss his particular brand of comedy in general. He’s brash and obnoxious, but it works very well a la the old school Eddie Murphy or heck even Will Ferrell when he’s yelling about something. Tucker carries the majority of the comedic load and of course no matter the situation he’s always looking for an in to crack a joke. Where you or I would be like “Man, I would really prefer not to die” Mr. Tucker is all “Hey, I am FUNNY! Stare at ME!” It’s hard not to laugh at some of it though.
Should you see this? Well, maybe. If you liked the first two I don’t see why not. It’s more of the same. A bit of action, a few laughs, and bang, you’re out the door. It’s probably a decent Sunday matinee. I wouldn’t suggest seeing this opening night, as the true believers of this franchise are probably people that run into walls a lot on accident, and I wouldn’t call this a great film on any level. But it’s fine. It’s not a disgrace, and it’s not a film you tell your pals they must see. It’s right smack dab in the middle, annoying for a reviewer to write about, but not interesting enough either way for the general public to work up much of a lather over.
