I wasn't in a very good mood when this movie started playing. The projector wasn't working right, so it started almost half an hour later than it should have. Nobody came in explaining the situation, so we sat there wondering what was going on. Eventually, I left to let them know what was going on, and they said that they were already taking care of it. If they knew, why didn't they let us know? I hate getting settled into a seat in a movie theater only to have to get up to complain about something. Lemmie tellya, the Muvico Paradise may look beautiful, but it's far from perfect. Actually, that's an unfortunate trend with movie theaters today. They look bigger and better, but the moviegoing experience itself is getting much worse. Almost half the time I see a movie, the projectionist isn't doing his or her job right. The audio is outta sync, the image is outta focus, or much of the image is leaking outside of the screen. The projectionist will leave the projection room before the movie starts, so they don't see if it's even playing right. If something's wrong, there's no one there to notice it, much less fix the problem. The projectionists suck, ushers don't exist, and sadly, theater owners and managers don't seem to care. I hope that this changes soon, but I don't see it happening. I remember back when I used to just bitch about the assholes who talk during movies. Now it seems like there are assholes working in the movie theaters, too.
Anyway...
When "Rush Hour" came out a couple of years ago, I saw it, and I liked it a lot. Still, I was slightly disappointed by how little they used Jackie Chan's martial arts skills. It was there, but not as much as I woulda liked. Chris Tucker was hilarious, though. With "Rush Hour 2," we get to see a lot more of Jackie Chan's amazing gift for martial arts. I'm happy about that, but unfortunately, I think we get TOO much of Chris Tucker's comedy. I like Chris Tucker a lot, and any movie he's in is successful largely because of his being in it. Look at "Friday." That movie is one of the best comedies of all-time. Then look at "Next Friday." Yeah, it's funny, but nowhere near as funny as the original, and he's the reason why. Well, that and because the sequel didn't have the moral center of the original. Oh, just to let you know, a few days ago I heard that there's another sequel to "Friday" in development right now, and it's called "The Friday After Next."
But yeah, although Chris Tucker is really funny in "Rush Hour 2," his comedy gets annoying at times. Comedy is great, but in this movie, things are done for the sake of laughs at the expense of Tucker's character. He ends up looking like a really inept cop who constantly interferes with Chan's character, who is a good cop.
Then again, who cares? Am I looking for a masterpiece in cinematic logic? Nope. I walked into "Rush Hour 2" wanting to be entertained, and I was. Even after the crappy experience waiting an extra half hour for the movie to start, that didn't hinder my enjoyment of the movie once it started.
Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan are awesome together. Their chemistry is undeniable, and both of them are excellent in their respective roles. Also in the movie is someone new to me, a very pretty gal named Roselyn Sanchez. She's done some TV work and she's had small roles in a couple of small movies, her biggest one being being the recent Jamie Foxx movie, "Held Up." She doesn't do much in this movie other than look sexy, but she seemed to do an admirable acting job. Hopefully, she'll be given a bigger role in another movie soon which will allow her to do some real acting. Then there's Zhang Ziyi, the beautiful and incredibly talented girl from the great "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." I like her a lot, and I hope to see more of her in movies, but I'm not sure how much room Hollywood is willing to make for a young martial arts female who speaks almost no English. Hopefully, the studios will think of something to do with her, because it would be a shame to see this incredibly talented woman wither away into obscurity. Actually, I take that back. I'm sure she'd do fine in Hong Kong cinema. Still, she could be huge here.
There's a surprising cameo by one of my favorite actors in Hollywood. It's surprising not just because his appearance is unexpected, but because he actually looks like he knows what he's doing in this one short sequence with Jackie Chan. It's a great scene, not to be missed.
"Rush Hour 2" was written by Jeff Nathanson, who helped write "Speed 2: Cruise Control." Ick. Well, this movie's a vast improvement. Actually, Jackie Chan's moves certainly aren't scripted, and I'm sure that Chris Tucker ad-libs half his lines anyway. Reading the script for "Rush Hour 2" is probably very different from watching it. Brett Ratner, who directed the original "Rush Hour," is back to direct the sequel. He also directed Chris Tucker in "Money Talks," which I never saw. He recently directed a very different movie, "The Family Man," which starred Nicolas Cage. Ratner is a good director, and not as over-the-top as he could be, which is pretty refreshing. Interestingly enough, in this movie, there's a boat and a casino called "Red Dragon." One of Ratner's next projects is directing the upcoming "Red Dragon" movie, which is based on the novel by Thomas Harris, and is one of three novels to feature the character, "Hannibal Lecter." It was made into a movie years ago, though it was called "Manhunter," and it was directed by Michael Mann.
One of the things that bothers me the most about this movie is that the one fight sequence I woulda loved to have seen was not taken advantage of. Instead of showing what coulda been a spectacular martial arts showcase, they went for comedy. Comedy at the expense of something else is a major theme of the movie, it seems.
It should come as a surprise to no one that when the movie ends, they show some of the outtakes from the movie. These outtakes are hilarious. They're almost better than the movie itself!
A couple of weeks ago, it was announced that Jackie Chan and Jet Li are gonna produce and star in a movie together. This has the potential to be something fantastic, but it can also be a disaster. I hope they work really hard to make sure that it's nothing less than extraordinary. This is a team-up that people around the world have been waiting for.
"Rush Hour 2" is entertaining, and very funny, but it's filled with flaws. No matter, I had a good time watching it. I'd definitely go see "Rush Hour 3."
Scale of 1-10: 8