Jackie Chan was one of the biggest action stars of world cinema, but the most coveted of all audiences - American – has eluded him for decades . After the first unsuccessful attempt to become genuine Hollywood star in late 1970s, Chan had to wait for late 1990s and Tarantino inspired craze for everything Hong Kong. Opportunity came with Rush Hour, 1998 action comedy directed by Brett Ratner.
Just like many Hong Kong-related films made in those times, Rush Hour begins shortly before British colony's handover to China. Lee (played by Jackie Chan), Hong Kong police detective, manages to wreck the art thievery operation. Some time later Han (played by Tzi Ma), Chinese consul in Los Angeles, seeks help from his old friend Lee. His daughter Soo Young (played by Julia Hsu) has been kidnapped and Han wants Lee to handle the case. Warren Russ (played by Mark Ralston), FBI agent in charge of the investigation, isn't very happy about Chinese policeman getting involved in his case. He approaches LAPD captain William Diel (played by Philip Baker Hall) and he assigns his troublesome detective James Carter (played by Chris Tucker) as liaison officer in the task force. Carter, who dreams of becoming FBI agent himself, is at first delighted with the task and later realises that his real job is babysitting Han. Two policemen slowly learn to accept each other and work as a team.
By late 1990s Chan learned that he couldn't carry Hollywood film by himself. His on-screen personality was still too alien and too exotic for American audiences. So, the next best thing was all-too-familiar formula of "buddy buddy" film in which his partner was supposed to his total opposite. That opposite was found in black comedian Chris Tucker, whose mostly verbal humour had almost managed to overshadow the stars of The Fifth Element one year earlier. The sharp contrast between motor-mouthed Tucker and quiet Chan mostly works in this film. Action scenes in which Chan appears are very impressive, but there are less of them than his loyal fans had been used to in earlier years. On the other hand, Tucker's comic talent wasn't properly used due to uninspired and cliched script by Jim Kouf and Ross La Manna. Good example is the identity of film's mysterious villain, which can be easily guessed due to 1990s Hollywood ethnic stereotypes. On the other hand, music by legendary Lalo Schifrin is very good, but not enough to drastically improve general impression of this film. Even Jackie Chan's trademark out takes during the end credits of Rush Hour represent something of a disappointment compared with Jackie Chan's earlier work.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on May 24th 2004)
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