At the helm of Rush Hour 2 is director Brett Ratner, who actually
remembered meeting me the first time at the screening of Jackie Chan's Miracles
months ago. That's an impressive memory considering what must be on his mind.
His last film, The Family Man just opened in December and he
immediately went into production on Rush Hour 2, which opens August 3
[2001].
Ratner was full of enthusiasm to talk about the big-budget sequel with
regards to Chan's relationship with Chris Tucker, ad-libbing and why it's
important to try new genres.
Were you at all nervous about approaching a Rush Hour sequel?
Oh, I was excited just because I created the first one. For me, it's not like a
sequel. It's like a family. We had so much fun.
Jackie says you're more Asian this time.
Uh, I guess so. My favorite
food is rice so he thinks I'm Chinese.
Is this more the movie you wanted to make as Rush Hour 1?
You
know, I can't complain about the other one. If the other one didn't exist, this
one would never happen. You would have never had a budget like this with a black
and an Asian star ever.
How have Jackie and Chris's relationship changed?
Oh, they hate each
other. No, it hasn't changed. They still don't understand a word they're saying
to each other.
What makes them a special combination?
There's only one thing. It's
chemistry. It's something you cannot explain. It either is or it isn't. What
creates chemistry? They have it. You could shoot them against this yellow wall
and they'll still be interesting because they're just opposites. They're from
two totally different worlds and I think the fact that they don't understand
each other makes it interesting.
Did you only do it on the basis of everyone returning?
Yeah. I think
we all kind of said that. I wasn't going to do it with Jet Li and Chris Rock.
I'd produce it and get paid, but I wouldn't have directed it.
Have people offered you stuff like that?
Oh, yeah. That's why I went
and did a movie like Family Man because I was offered every urban comedy.
I said, "You know what? I'm going to go do something different." And I had to
beg for that job and now I'm being offered movies that I never would have been
offered, the most dramatic films that they would offer Barry Levinson. That's
because of Family Man because off of Rush Hour they wouldn't know
if I could do that. It's not that I was tired of being offered those [urban]
movies but I've done in this genre, I think I've done the best movie so how do I
top it unless I put Eddie Murphy and Chris Tucker together. I mean, there's
different formulas.
Was it tough to get Nicolas Cage for Family Man?
Of course it
wasn't easy, but I had to tell him what my vision of the movie is. When you see
the title Family Man, you picture it being a guy on the poster juggling
dishes and diapers and babies and it's like a broad, silly movie that you've
seen before. I gave him examples of movies that I was inspired by like Kramer
vs. Kramer or Terms of Endearment. It's a Wonderful Life is an
obvious choice but that's in the same genre. I'm talking about dramatic films
that have real moments between two people, with human relations. For instance,
when he asked me about a scene in the movie, I said, "Well, look at this scene."
And I put a scene on tape for him in Kramer vs. Kramer when Dustin
Hoffman is making the French toast. I said, "Look at how he relates to this
little boy. That's the type of moment I want between you and the little girl."
So he understood that the tone of the movie that I was trying to make was more
of a dramatic version and not a broad version. The same movie if you go a little
bit to the right could have been very broad and sill and overly sentimental. But
I tried to explain what my vision of the movie was and he responded to it and
agreed to do it. And he loved Rush Hour too. That's what really got him
to do it.
is the biggest improvement between Rush Hour 1 and 2?
I think Rush Hour 2 is twice - that's why it's 2. It's twice as big,
the action and twice as funny. I'm really proud of the movie. I think it's the
better movie. We had so much more money on this movie that I was able to fill it
with nonstop action where on a budget of $32 million, the first one, you can't
really afford it.
How much is this budget?
Three times as much. A lot of money.
How did you cast Zhang Ziyi?
I saw the movie [Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon] before the movie came
out. I was friends with one of the producers and they showed it to me. It wasn't
written for her. It was written for a guy and I went ahead and said, "I want to
meet Zhang Ziyi" but the producer said, "But there's no part for her. The girl's
Spanish." And I said, "Yeah, but I want to meet her anyway." And I met her,
while I'm talking to her I said, "I want you to be in the movie." And I started
telling her what the guy part that I ended up firing does in the movie to get
her to do it. Then we got her and I got rid of the other guy and I made it a
female lead.
Who was the guy you cast?
I don't want to hurt anybody.
Did she do her own stunts?
Oh yeah. She's a dancer so she's very physical.
Chris did more Chan-style stunts in this one. How much of that was a
double?
It's him. I mean, sometimes [it's not].
Was there a lot of ad-libbing?
Yeah, but you have to define improvising. I mean, it's not improvising like
let's just talk about whatever we want, like O.J. Simpson. Jackie and Chris
aren't making up what they're saying. They're just changing the way it's being
said. It's the same meaning but it's just being said differently because the
script's written by a corny white guy and Chris can't speak like that so he has
to make it his own. Jackie unfortunately is always waiting for that last word of
Chris's sentences and it unfortunately never comes. So, it's very confusing and
hard and takes a lot of takes.
Is it hard to edit then?
No, because say the line is, "I'm going to kick your ass." Chris might say,
"You know, man, I don't like you. I'm going to kick your ass. Let's get out of
here." I only take "I'm going to kick your ass." It's called editing. I just cut
and put that line in. Anything can be said but I need that one line to tell the
story.
Do you work with Chan on the stunt choreography?
Oh yeah, I have to. I tell him the things that I need. For instance, in the
first movie, in the pool hall scene when he fights the five guys. I said, "Okay,
you have a pool cue, you have a triangle, you have a ball, you have this light.
Now beat up these five guys using these things." So I tell him the beats that I
want. I'm not going to tell him how to roll over the table. "You have to start
here and end up here." So, I design the storytelling aspect of it and the shot
and he just physically does it.
Are you open to his directorial suggestions?
If he wanted to. There's no egos involved. We're all there for the same
purpose. If he has an idea and he suggests it to me, he's Jackie Chan. Who am I
to say it's a bad idea? But I know what I want. That's why I'm a director. I
know what I want and I know what I like. The Hong Kong way is a very different
way but it's just a different type of storytelling and different type of humor
really. But the massage parlor fight in a Hong Kong version of this movie would
be just him fighting all these guys and the humor would be the physical stuff,
but it wouldn't be Chris's. And that's not an easy thing to do because Chris
isn't - - he'll tell you he's the best martial artist in the world but he's not.
How many more Rush Hours could you see yourself doing?
I'll continue to make Rush Hour 10.
Would you do a non-Jackie Chan action movie?
It's not as interesting as doing a dramatic film or any other genre because
an action movie is just an action movie, but if there's no heart or no soul,
it's just for action, it's not that interesting to me. Like, Bond is
interesting. That's interesting to me.
Check back tomorrow for a report from the Rush Hour 2 premiere.
