Review of Rush Hour 3 (2007) by Ifiok O — 10 Aug 2010

Truly, Rush Hour 3 is the worst thing to happen to legendary director Roman Polanski since Charles Manson. Luckily for Polanski, his pain-inducing turn as a hard-nosed French policeman proves to be a bit part. Unluckily for the audience, the entire movie amasses to nothing more than a bit part. Fun at times but ultimately idiotic, this sequel makes a compelling case for euthanasia if the patient just happens to be the Rush Hour franchise. And, by the grace of everything holey, the typewriter chimps responsible for this unnecessary outing will not be able to fathom another far-flung scenario that unconvincingly partners a chop-socky Chinese detective with a motor-mouthed Los Angeles cop.

In the PG-13-rated action comedy Rush Hour 3, LAPD Detective Carter (Tucker) and Chinese Chief Inspector Lee (Chan) head to Paris to battle an organized crime syndicate.

The best thing that can be said about Rush Hour 3 is that it is not the worst action-comedy three-peat in American film history. This remarkable distinction belongs to that cinematic Hope Diamond, Beverly Hills Cop 3. Still, though validated for not being the worst of its ilk, Rush Hour 3 DOES deserve scorn for bringing absolutely nothing new to the table. The stunts look like deleted scenes from the first movie, the lines sound like outtakes from the second movie, and the whole premise smacks of much better buddy-cop movies (48 Hours, anyone?). Worse, Chan looks tired and old, Tucker looks uninterested, and the whole audience just looks mortified.

Bottom line: Bad cop, bad cop.