Following the success of Rush Hour, Brett Ratner was hired to return direct a follow up called Rush Hour 2, with Jackie Chan & Chris Tucker reprising their roles as Lee & Carter.
Rush Hour 2 came out in 2001. It made a bunch of money than its predecessor at the box office. Unfortunately, it received mixed reviews from critics. Roger Ebert claimed in his review that Chris Tucker is far more annoying than the first film.
Due to the upcoming releases for both The Lego Ninjago Movie and The Foreigner with Jackie Chan starring both films, I want to give you fellow movie goers something to keep you patient.
The review doesn’t contain any SPOILERS, it means you’re allowed to view this article if you haven’t seen this film before.
Positive: Jackie Chan & Chris Tucker, both did a hilarious job on their performances.
The Chemistry between Lee & Carter felt decent.
Action Sequences & Stuntwork felt organic like the fist film. Bonus Points for Chan doing his own stunts without the use of a body double. He deserves a Christmas Bonus for all that hard work.
Michael Jackson’s song, “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” is played during one important scene.
Fun Fact: Chris Tucker was very close friends with The King Of Pop. They worked on a music video together called “You Rock My World.” He also defended his late friend during his trial.
Funny Moments got me laughing out loud. Especially Carter having a fish out of water experience in China.
The Villain has a pivotal connection to Lee’s backstory.
The name of a casino club is called “Red Dragon.” Brett Ratner went on to direct a prequel to The Silence Of The Lambs called Red Dragon. Ridley Scott directed Hannibal, which came out the exact same year as Rush Hour 2.
Don Cheadle, (Rhodey/War Machine from the MCU and Tony Stark’s best friend) makes a brief appearance.
Jeremy Piven has a cameo appearance.
Outtakes/Bloopers are shown during The End Credits with the cast & crew having a good time making this film without anything stress related. Tucker himself, mentioned Rush Hour 3. Guess what happened years later?
Negative: The Hong Kong Police Department tells Lee & Carter to stay out of their business, felt like the first film all over again.
Product Placement includes the following brands such as United Airlines. I’ll give this one con a pass because there wasn’t that much added to shove em down our throats.
A fake looking Blue Screen Effect is shown in one Stunt Sequence.
The Final Verdict: B for Boom Shaka Laka.
I thought the second entry was decent, but not as good as the first one. I’m not saying Rush Hour 2 is bad, it has some positive elements in there. I really don’t get the fact that Tucker’s performance in this was obnoxious. I didn’t mind his personality as a loud mouth, because in the first film, he was introduced like that so he and Chan’s characters can be viewed as polar opposites. If you want to give this one a watch, go ahead.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 