They were Hollywood's unlikeliest duo, nearly ten years ago. With the third Rush Hour installment, this buddy cop series has reached the 'Police Academy 7' point of stale. Chan and Tucker have clearly developed some onscreen chemistry by now, and they finally appear able to decipher each other's dialect without subtitles. \nThis being the third time around, writer Jeff Nathanson sees no need for a glorified meeting between our two heroes. We meet up with Officer Carter (Tucker) on traffic duty as he spontaneously calls Inspector Lee (Chan) to hang out with two women Carter had just handcuffed ("But you get the fat one."). Lee is indisposed, escorting the Chinese Ambassador Han to a meeting at the World Criminal Court. But the plot is really irrelevant; it's the partnership between Chan and Tucker. At this point, the duo is as famous as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Wayne and Garth, Beavis and Butthead, Jay and Silent Bob…\nAs a sacrifice for an intelligent script with an air tight plot twist, the movie is full of racial clowning, amusing one liners, and Chris Tucker's high pitched, womanly screams. Director Brett Ratner's ('Red Dragon,' 'X-Men: The Last Stand') fight scenes are fun as always with the legendary stunt master Jackie Chan at the helm, but like a video game, the excessive faceless bad guys with guns constantly come out of nowhere. For the third film in the 'Rush Hour' trilogy, you get what you pay for, which is nothing groundbreaking.
Through all this the plot somehow manages to forge ahead toward a quick resolution. In fact, immediately after saving the day and double punching a frisky Police Chief (renowned director Roman Polanski), our heroes immediately dance their way into the credits. Be sure to stick around after the end, the outtakes during the credits are the funniest part of the movie. \nWhile the series may seem trite, the film managed first at the box office in its inaugural weekend. 'Rush Hour' will not go down in history with 'Star Wars,' 'Lord of the Rings,' or even 'Back to the Future' as a classic trilogy, but you can probably expect a fourth installment in the not too distant future.
