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This movie...
Is 16 years old
"What?"
When I first went to high school in Canada
I, like every immigrant kid in our class, had to learn French
"Sh*t, M*rde, Sh*t, F*ck, Tabarn*rk"
To make the process more fun
Our teacher would play French dubbed movies for us
And her top choice was Rush Hour
Watching Rush Hour in a class full of immigrants
Was a special kinda of fun
"Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?"
Seeing the two cops settle their differences
Made us curious about each other's culture as well
“我吔一齐剥衫，同埋杀羊咩”
The film briefly made me a popular kid in class
Purely because I'm Chinese, like Jackie
"You invited them to get naked and sacrifice a small goat."
Ah, fond memories
That's why when Rush Hour 3 came out
I couldn't wait to watch it
"Rush Hour 3!!"
I rented a copy from a video store
Shoved it into my CD-ROM
And within the first 20 minutes...
I realized it kinda sucks
"Funny Black man"
And I was not alone
Rush Hour 3 was a disappointment to a lot of people
What went wrong?
I asked myself that question and kept on watching
"Welcome to Paris"
"Oh sh*t"
And then... somehow
The film slowly won me over
I started enjoying it
And I'm pretty sure I was not alone in this as well
What's going on?
Well, let me explain
[ 6 Reasons Why Rush Hour 3 is bad (And Why I Still Like It) ]
[ Part One ]
Let's start with the negative
#1: The subpar action
The first two Rush Hour films have some
Of the best action scenes in Hollywood
At the time, Jackie Chan still had ambition
Of becoming a Hollywood star
So, he and his team were hands-on with the film
He didn't just design the stunts
He also directed the camera
See how Jackie and the moving container are in the same shot?
Here, Jackie backflips
But the camera focuses on the gun, rather than Jackie
A few shots later, we get a payoff
While Rush Hour 3 still has impressive stunts
It seems Jackie wasn't as hands-on
See, this shot never shows the ground
We don't know how high up he is
It lacks a sense of danger
And this shot is even worse
In an actual Jackie Chan movie
We'd see him sliding all the way down to the ground
With less than impressive camera work
The editor worked overtime to compensate
Further dampening the excitement
After a series of stinkers
By 2007, Jackie's career was winding down
Which might be why he wasn't as diligent
It may also explain why the film focuses more on Carter
The main theme of Rush Hour 3 is "brotherhood"
"Lee, I'm half-Chinese, baby."
Lee struggles with the discovery that
His adoptive brother is a criminal
"He ain't your brother"
"You don't know my brother!"
"Fine."
"I'm not your brother."
From there, Carter is the only one to go through a character arc
Learning to not abandon his best friend
"He has me!"
"His brother from another mother"
He comes up with most of the plans
He provides most of the laughs
Heck, in this scene, he's the main action hero
Jackie is the support
It's a subtle difference, but it feels off
Not because I don't like Chris Tucker
He shines as the frontman
My problem is with Jackie
"Sorry, I don't know him"
He just isn't very interesting or fun as the sidekick
Okay, so this is a Chris Tucker comedy
Which is fine and all
But what's up with the color?
Around this time, the practice of "Digital Intermediate"
Became standard practice
Basically, you shot the movie on film
Scan it onto a computer
Mess up the color
And then shat it back onto film for exhibition
Look at Jackie's tie
It's all bleached out
This high contrast low saturation orange and teal look
Not only is a bad match for a high key comedy
It also lacks any of the warmth of the original films
Added with the handheld camera
The movie can look downright dreary
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[ Part Two ]
With Chris Tucker as the frontman
Rush Hour 3 has more gags than fights
That's a real problem
When the gags often take over the movie
See this bit from Rush Hour
"The amount will be fifty million dollars"
"Fifty million dollars?"
"Who do you think you kidnapped? Chelsea Clinton?"
It's a funny line improvised by Chris Tucker
But also something Carter would say
It also tells us how high the stake is
It is a joke that builds the character
And builds the story
In contrast, here's how a gag plays out in Rush Hour 3
"You!"
"Yes?"
"Not you! Him! What's your name?"
"Mee"
"Yes, you!"
"I'm Mee"
"He's Mee, and I'm Yu"
Jokes in Rush Hour 3 are self-contained skits
Leaning onto Chris Tucker's stand-up career
"Sister, you tell this piece of s-word"
"That I'll personally f-word him up"
Most of the jokes don't push the story forward
That's why these scenes are popular on YouTube
You don't need context to enjoy them
The problem is further exacerbated
By the dead locations
The colorful scenery is one of the many subtle factors
That made Rush Hour so lively
All of the locations in previous films
Facilitated towards a strong cultural clash
"How ya doin'? Yall got any eel?"
"Sure"
Carter enters this Hong Kong nightclub
Notices someone singing badly
He goes on stage and starts performing
You put funny people in unfamiliar places
And the jokes write themselves
The kung fu school in Rush Hour 3, however
Feels like a movie set for a sitcom
Lee and Carter come in
"Alright, listen up!"
And they immediately interrupt everyone
The film never takes the time to observe and display the location
Finally, Carter is also such a creep in this movie
It's uncomfortable to watch
"That depends. You girls like Chinese?"
He's actually very likable in the first movie
A street-smart cop, flirty but not dirty
In each successive film
He becomes more and more of a sleazeball
"And I'd to strip you down."
"And butter you like a slice of wonder bread"
And it's like... knowing the director
It makes an uncomfortable watch
[ Part Three ]
So, why do I still like the movie?
Simply put, just because it's not as good
Doesn't mean it's bad
"If you're half-Chinese, I'm half-black."
"I'm your brother and I'm fly."
"You down with that, Snoopy?"
"That's dope, ain't it?"
This line is funny
Not because it's surprising coming from Lee
But because Jackie struggles so much trying to say it
"You down with that, Snoopy? That's dope, ain't it?"
That's the fun of Rush Hour 3
The characters may not be all that great
"Nice working with you, sister"
"Any time, brother"
But the actors were having a blast
"Maybe we should put on a dirty movie"
"Lee!"
"Only $9.95!"
They are party jokes
You know? The type of jokes people tell at parties
"I like the one with the horses... what does that mean?"
Chances are, you've heard of it before
And they aren't that funny
But you still enjoy the joke
Because it's not about the text
It's about who's telling the joke
And how they are telling it
It's the charisma of the performance
Additionally, there are also good moments
For example, after two movies
The two characters have taken on traits from each other
Lee picked up some AAVE
"That's dope, ain't it?"
While Carter picked up some Chinese
“Introduce him to your xiongdi"
"Xiongdi... Your brother!?"
He also knows a bit of kung fu, too
Sure, he always knows how to fight
But in here, he fights like Lee
In a movie about brotherhood
It's nice to see how close the two can be
The best moment comes from this montage
"Fine."
"I'm not your brother."
The film then cuts into an intentionally cheesy montage
Of the two being melancholic...
While watching racial stereotypes on TV!
"I'd like to order some fried chicken, please"
And then you see Carter ordering
Chinese It is the most hilariously stupid thing ever
Yet it has so much heart
In a way, Rush Hour 3 feels like an extended wrap-party
Just actors having fun, performing a few bits
It may not have great action or humor
But just being able to see how far the actors
And the characters have come
That is enough to put a smile on my face
[ Afterword ]
I think this movie can be best summarized by this joke
Carter arrives at a Vaudville theater
He sneaks into the backstage
Pretending to be a costume designer
While creeping on a group of naked performers
"I'm Bubbles."
"The new costume designer!"
It feels forced, the joke is not funny
It's uncomfortable to watch
0/10
Naturally, I dreaded to see what this creep would do
What absolute train-wreck of a costume will he come up with
Then, the movie cuts, and...
The costume looks amazing!
This is what Rush Hour 3 is, a deeply uneven movie
It can be both extremely bad
And surprisingly good
The joke gets even better, by the way
As I watched the two stars walking away at the end
I still feel satisfied
I think, if this movie were to be shown in class
We'd love it just as much
Is it a good movie?
Not really
But it can still be a good time