Rush Hour

Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) is a wisecracking, plays by his own rules type policeman who gets a little bit carried away with his job. When a drug bust goes haywire and two cops caught in the crossfire are shot, the LAPD Supervisor knows it's all Carter's fault! Not looking very highly towards Carter, the LAPD Supervisor gives him two options: Either be suspended without his badge for two months, or help the FBI chase after a gang of ruthless criminals who have kidnapped a Chinese Diplomat's daughter (Julie Hsu). The choices for this egotistic, self-centered cop will not be simple...

Enter Detective Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan), a police officer who wrote the book on fighting crime. Back in LA, Carter immediately gets his feet wet before shortly experiencing a chagrin moment. Detective Carter has learned that his assignment is to baby-sit Inspector Lee. Carter must make sure that Lee does not interfere with the FBI's business. Carter is not happy with the workload he is responsible for, but he must fulfill his duty nonetheless...

Carter usually works alone...this time, he has company. Reluctantly, the Lee and Carter align together and a culture clash becomes obvious. The wonderful pair is drawn to a series of mishaps, conspiracies, and plenty of high kicking action and adventure! Carter shows Lee a tour or two around the city of Los Angeles; and the pair quickly become best buddies. However, Lee and Carter can't help but to interfere with the FBI's affairs. Lee cares only so much about the kidnapped child. He feels that he must help track her down before the nefarious villains murder her... Meanwhile, Carter ticks off a few of the locals before he faces absolute terror. Can Lee convince Carter to focus on this mission to rescue the Diplomat's daughter held for ransom? Or will it be too late?

RUSH HOUR is one of the most jamming action/comedy mixtures ever. This film is one awesome venture with the presence of both Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker helping to create a winner for the action genre. RUSH HOUR is entertaining, a fast-paced cop-buddy flick. Part of this film's success owes to the eccentric chemistry between the two leading stars. For example, Jackie Chan's athletic capabilities are strikingly in contrast to Chris Tucker's overzealous, fidgety reactions. Chan's ability to maneuver high risk jumps, leaps, and other assorted dangerous stunts definitely keeps the energy going while Tucker's jittery silliness always creates a warm smile on the viewer's face. Tucker's motor-mouth is surprisingly compatible to Chan's martial arts prowess. Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are a definite revelation!

The cast in RUSH HOUR prove themselves worthy of their roles. Besides the two main characters, the supporting cast is terrific. Elizabeth Pena adds a touch of sentimentality as Tucker's unappreciated sidekick who turns out to be an asset to the police department after all. Mark Rolston (ALIENS) and Tzi Ma (CHAIN REACTION, RAPID FIRE) as a strategic FBI agent and Consul Han respectively all add credibility to their parts. Newcomer Julie Hsu is also fabulous as a hostage who proves to be more difficult for the bad guys than they can handle...

RUSH HOUR has top notch stunts mixed with one-of-a-kind comical moments which help make this film an enlightening combination of action and comedy, with a dash of Chan's fantastic skill work.

The Chan-Tucker collaboration is the best on-screen duo since Abbott & Costello! The duo has showed all their right moves and have proven themselves a spectacular heroic pair for moviegoers to cheer on everywhere. Again, the action in RUSH HOUR is no short of exhilarating with outrageous sequences such as Chan trying to protect a valuable vase from the wrath of the bad guys.

Great dance moves by Tucker, but nobody impresses the audience like Jackie Chan leaping from place to place, mowing down the bad guys! RUSH HOUR is fantastic fun! A must-see for die hard action enthusiasts. This film is Jackie Chan's and Chris Tucker's finest hour. Watch for the requisite funny outtakes by the film's end credits.

RATING: *** out of ****.

Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, the best comedic duo since Lethal Weapon bring us Rush Hour. A classic action movie that brings great action as well as awesome comedy that makes you laugh every minute. Chris Tucker has always been one of my favorite comedians, even before I saw Rush Hour, so it was great to see him in Rush Hour. I know a lot of people find him annoying, but I thought he was just so funny. He showed off his talents in Rush Hour. Not only him, but this is the film that is making Jackie Chan into a world wide super star. His stunts are simply incredible. Rush Hour is one of those very fun action/comedy movies that I'm sure you'll enjoy if you love movies like Lethal Weapon or 48 Hours. The story was just pure entertainment and really kept me on the edge.

Lee is a body guard to the Chinese ambassador and is also a close friend, he also is a teacher to his daughter, Soo Yong. The ambassador goes to the United States with his daughter, but she is kidnapped by an evil man of the Chinese Consol. They want 50 million dollars in return, but the ambassador thinks that Lee should be involved, so he sends for him, but the F.B.I. doesn't want him near the case. So they hire L.A.P.D. screw up, James Carter, to babysit him. But together, the fastest hands in the east meets the fastest mouth in the west, they must learn to work together despite their complete opposite personalities and get the girl back.

Rush Hour is a guaranteed classic down the lines somewhere, I'm sure. It's already spawned a sequel and it's been a success. Chris and Jackie are such a great team, I was really impressed with their chemistry. My favorite scene is where Lee plays "War" by Edwin Starr in Carter's car, and he doesn't know how to say the lyrics correctly, and Carter shows him some moves, it was such a classic scene that brought me down to the floor laughing. I highly recommend Rush Hour, it's all in good fun and it'll give you more than a few good laughs.

8/10

I enjoyed Rush Hour very much, yes it is a little silly, but what it is really is harmless fun. The two leads, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are an inspired double act, though I will say, that sometimes Tucker's mouth runs away with him, so I didn't always understand what he was saying at times. The clever plot, involving an international kidnapping, actually allows Chan to do what he does best, but I did wish there was a little more of it. The script is irreverent, if only let down by what seemed like some improvisation from Tucker, that sometimes got off target. There are some excellent camera work and stunts, making this a hugely enjoyable film, not as good as Shanghai Noon, but a delight for fans of Chan. 8/10 Bethany Cox.

When a diplomat's daughter is kidnapped in the US, a Chinese policeman Lee is sent to help the FBI with the investigation. Not wishing his help the FBI arrange a LAPD officer Carter to keep him out of trouble. However with both Lee and Carter keen to be involved in the investigation, they set out on their own to find the girl overcoming both bad guys and cultural differences.

This is yet another buddy cop movie where different partners must overcome their differences to solve a crime. Here the difference is the black culture and the Chinese culture. The story is very unlikely but it makes enough sense to get by, all it needs is to hang in and create lots of set pieces. Which it does - there's not as much action for Jackie Chan as I would have liked and his fight scenes feel toned down in favour of Tucker's manic comedy (this was partially reversed in RH2). This is a shame because Tucker is funny but his manic antics can get a bit irritating in large doses - it needed more of Chan.

However it is funny and Chan does hold his own and get to show how fast he is. His fight scenes don't feel as inventive as in other films but he has a good chemistry with Tucker. The bad guys are quite characterless but it doesn't really matter as the lead duo manage to carry the film.

Overall a good buddy cop movie that is a good vehicle for both Chan and Tucker and plays on both their strengths to good effect. However as with RH2 most of the funniest moments come in the closing outtakes, which can't be a good thing.

The Chinese Consul's daughter is kidnapped and the FBI steps in to investigate the case. The Consul doesn't trust them however, so he calls in an old friend and police inspector from Hong Kong to aid in the rescue of his daughter. Not wanting to work with outsiders, the FBI pairs him with a cocky, loudmouthed L.A. street cop who dreams of becoming a federal agent but doesn't work well with partners. The formula is tired and predictable, but it's redeemed to a surprising extent by the effective pairing of Chan and Tucker who are an ideal action-comedy duo. Lots of gimmicky action scenes and big time laughs, with the added bonus of a script that doesn't require a lot of thinking. ***