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MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
241 .......................... 265
__________________________
August 6th
—— 2007 ——
RUSH
HOUR
3
—— comedy ——
REWATCH
Rush Hour has turned Into
Flush Hour by this time…
I would say this sequel was totally unnecessary, but with the previous popularity of the two other films, obviously there was going to be one. I just thought the franchise was fine without a third film, especially since they didn’t seem to bring anything new or exciting to the universe except for universal appeal, which automatically made it lose a little personality. I saw ‘Rush Hour 3’ in the cinemas, which is the only entry in the series I have seen on the big screen. I loved it back then, but that was only because I was young and still dug dumb humor and senseless stupidity without weight or matter. I see now why this third film just doesn’t come near the two first in the franchise, though there is still fun to be had here…
I guess you could say the third time wasn’t the charm with this franchise. The people behind definitely made an effort to elevate the entertainment to even higher levels, but in place of a flavorful blend of badass action scenes and spiced-up comedy gold, the whole silly scenario just seems to be burning out by this point. As stated in my prior review, the third film constructs its plot around the characters and not the other way around, which turns a plot with thought into a selection of scenes that mostly play out like a Chan and Tucker skit show, missing both coherence and context.
It just seems like the movie constantly moves from one place to another only to act out amusing or confusing joke material. Instead of having the humor come naturally, the director seems to set up every scenario perfectly for some kind of pointless joke, which makes it appear like they just try so hard to make us laugh. Look at the nun scene for example, it isn’t even that funny and first she is scared out of her mind because somebody is about to die and then she high fives Chris Tucker the second after and says “anytime, brother”. Like what the hell is going on? These movies have never exactly been relying on realism, but I haven’t seen them depart so far from reality and believability just to crack a joke.
The scene with the nun isn’t even the only one worth an unworthy mention, there is also the French taxi driver turned secret spy and the Roman Polanski cameo butt inspection and the musical stage sequence, which by the way worked better the way it was executed in ‘Rush Hour 2’. Everything about this sequel seem to be taking a step back, while rehashed scenes and trash talk nonsense takes the front seat. Some of these jokes and set ups also appear more family friendly than previously, which makes it seem like the director had very low standards with this one, wanting to make everything more universal opposed to special.
When you think about how silly this film is, I don’t think it is fitting how old these actors have become – especially Jackie Chan. Not that you really notice it too much in the film, but if you examine it, you will see his age having an effect on his stunt work, which comes off a little less daring, sometimes relying on stunt doubles for the more intense scenes. Things are also less inventive this time around, where Chan even copies some of his earlier stuff. I can accept these facts though, since the action element are still one of the best things about this film, which makes the comedic failures in between worth the one and a half (rush) hour runtime. But after all this is still 'Rush Hour' with more or less the same characters we know and love and not all comedic scenes fall flat. I like the wordplay scene, the misinterpreted sex scene and the opening. But it is too unbalanced overall and just not as good as the first two films.
__________________________
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
241 .......................... 265
__________________________
August 6th
—— 2007 ——
RUSH
HOUR
3
—— comedy ——
REWATCH
Rush Hour has turned Into
Flush Hour by this time…
I would say this sequel was totally unnecessary, but with the previous popularity of the two other films, obviously there was going to be one. I just thought the franchise was fine without a third film, especially since they didn’t seem to bring anything new or exciting to the universe except for universal appeal, which automatically made it lose a little personality. I saw ‘Rush Hour 3’ in the cinemas, which is the only entry in the series I have seen on the big screen. I loved it back then, but that was only because I was young and still dug dumb humor and senseless stupidity without weight or matter. I see now why this third film just doesn’t come near the two first in the franchise, though there is still fun to be had here…
I guess you could say the third time wasn’t the charm with this franchise. The people behind definitely made an effort to elevate the entertainment to even higher levels, but in place of a flavorful blend of badass action scenes and spiced-up comedy gold, the whole silly scenario just seems to be burning out by this point. As stated in my prior review, the third film constructs its plot around the characters and not the other way around, which turns a plot with thought into a selection of scenes that mostly play out like a Chan and Tucker skit show, missing both coherence and context.
It just seems like the movie constantly moves from one place to another only to act out amusing or confusing joke material. Instead of having the humor come naturally, the director seems to set up every scenario perfectly for some kind of pointless joke, which makes it appear like they just try so hard to make us laugh. Look at the nun scene for example, it isn’t even that funny and first she is scared out of her mind because somebody is about to die and then she high fives Chris Tucker the second after and says “anytime, brother”. Like what the hell is going on? These movies have never exactly been relying on realism, but I haven’t seen them depart so far from reality and believability just to crack a joke.
The scene with the nun isn’t even the only one worth an unworthy mention, there is also the French taxi driver turned secret spy and the Roman Polanski cameo butt inspection and the musical stage sequence, which by the way worked better the way it was executed in ‘Rush Hour 2’. Everything about this sequel seem to be taking a step back, while rehashed scenes and trash talk nonsense takes the front seat. Some of these jokes and set ups also appear more family friendly than previously, which makes it seem like the director had very low standards with this one, wanting to make everything more universal opposed to special.
When you think about how silly this film is, I don’t think it is fitting how old these actors have become – especially Jackie Chan. Not that you really notice it too much in the film, but if you examine it, you will see his age having an effect on his stunt work, which comes off a little less daring, sometimes relying on stunt doubles for the more intense scenes. Things are also less inventive this time around, where Chan even copies some of his earlier stuff. I can accept these facts though, since the action element are still one of the best things about this film, which makes the comedic failures in between worth the one and a half (rush) hour runtime. But after all this is still 'Rush Hour' with more or less the same characters we know and love and not all comedic scenes fall flat. I like the wordplay scene, the misinterpreted sex scene and the opening. But it is too unbalanced overall and just not as good as the first two films.
__________________________