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Rush Hour 2 Exceeds The Original by Tiger i3
Being a fan of the original Rush Hour, I was going to see RH2 with or without Zhang Ziyi
in it but adding her and a couple more established stars to the cast really just got me 50 times
more pumped up to see this sequel. Overall, this was really one of the most entertaining movies
I've seen in a long time and is just one of those rare sequels that manage to exceed the original,
ranking right up there with Toy Story 2, Terminator 2, etc. The movie isn't without
flaws but in the end, I really think that the good parts overcame the bad.
Chris Tucker was of course funny as hell and basically just stole the entire beginning of the
movie. His antics got the audience cracking up the minute he took out his Chinese pocket
dictionary and had the entire theater going nuts with that infamous line: "Aww Hell No." I
thought his racial jokes were pretty funny but it really began to get tiring in the end. I mean
that whole "Racist Speech" at the table, come on. It was just really evident that the laughs
started slowing down in that scene and it took a little while before it started building up again.
Unlike in Rush Hour 1, the jokes were all constant and kept the audience laughing effortlessly.
To me, it seemed that Rattner just began to dry up on ideas at the end and was just forcefully
trying to make the audience laugh with that whole racist speech. The whole speech was an example
of Chris Tucker's ability to just "bullsh*t" and cause a big commotion but personally, I liked
the way Tucker bullsh*tted better in the first film. When he told the waitress that he wanted to
see JunTao because he was his legal advisor and all that, classic.
Still, I kept laughing at the end of the movie and all the way to the end of the bloopers. So
happily, I got my money's worth. Jackie Chan. He got more than enough funny lines this time
around and as has been said before, is finally starting to show his age in the film. Just check
out his face when he dips Roselyn Sanchez as they were dancing. Regardless, he is still incredibly
healthy and athletic for a man his age and will probably not start showing the gray hair until
his 60's. He was hilarious during the bedroom scene and the Puff Daddy bit just showed that Chan
has that ability to make the audience laugh without spewing words from his mouth ala Chris Tucker.
We get to learn more about his character in this movie and it's nice that his story came to a
"happy end."
Of course, let's not forget about our beloved Zhang Ziyi and the other leads. Ziyi was wicked as
the viscous Hu Li and this movie really did show her versatility. True she didn't get to showcase
her acting abilities and it would've been nice to learn more about her characters but as far as
playing the top henchwoman goes, she's got it down perfect. Besides, wouldn't you rather have
Ziyi as the secondary villian instead of two other actors/actresses as was first reported?
Roselyn Sanchez was also sizzling hot in this movie and even though her looks were a couple steps
below Ziyi's, damn her body is hot! Just check out her abs! Ricky Tan was ok for a villian but personally, I think Juntao from Rush Hour 1 was a
little better. Juntao was dark, calm, and had that "evil" British accent to go along with it.
Ricky Tan was...a midget in a bathrobe. He just didn't do enough to make himself stand out as a
movie villian.
Well as far as the storyline goes, yeah it flowed nicely and made sense but to me, I thought the
story of RH1 was better. In the action and humor department, RH2 has got the original beat but
the story just didn't cut it. In RH1 there was just so much going on in that it was like a
two-way race to get the consul's daughter back between Chan & Tucker and the FBI. Here it was
just Chan & Tucker throughout the whole movie and the so-called Secret Service Agency didn't do
sh*t to try and solve the case. All in all, the story in RH1 was more interesting than here.
Suffice it to say that the story here isn't a bad one but it could've been better and with more
intrigue.
So I'll end my review here (and thank you for anyone who actually read the whole thing) and in a
nutshell, I'd say the audience definately got their money's worth with this movie and I'm betting
that this will top Shrek and gross even higher than the original once its run in the
theaters is complete. Look for a VHS/DVD release around Christmas time as I'm sure the producers
want to cash in on this movie as much as possible. And believe me, they will. I know I'll be
getting this for Christmas but who knows, maybe the CTHD Special Edition DVD will be out around
the same time to provide some competition.
The Final Verdict: 8/10
Discussions
Are you a fan of Zhang Ziyi and/or her films and would like to contribute a fan review?
If so, then please feel free to post your review in a new discussion topic in Zhang Ziyi Films.
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