Rush Hour 2

Rush Hour 2 Information

Rush Hour 2 is a 2001 martial arts action comedy film. This is the second installment in the Rush Hour series. A sequel to the 1998 film Rush Hour, the film stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker who respectively reprise their roles as Inspector Lee and Detective Carter. The film finds Lee and Carter embroiled in a counterfeit scam involving the Triads.

Rush Hour 2 was released August 3, 2001 to mixed reviews from critics, but it grossed $347,325,802 at the worldwide box office, becoming the eleventh highest-grossing film of 2001 worldwide, the highest-grossing live-action martial arts film of all time, and the second highest-grossing martial arts film of all time, behind Kung Fu Panda. The film was followed up with another sequel, Rush Hour 3, in 2007.

Plot

Los Angeles Police Department Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) is on vacation in Hong Kong, visiting his friend, Hong Kong Police Force Chief Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan). Carter is interested in having a good time; however, soon after he arrives, a bomb explodes at the United States Consulate General. Inspector Lee is assigned to the case, which becomes personal when it is discovered that it somehow involves Ricky Tan (John Lone), his late police officer father's former partner. Tan, who was suspected, but never proven, of having a role in Lee's father's death, is now a leader of the Triads.

The United States Secret Service, led by Agent Sterling (Harris Yulin), and the Hong Kong Police Force soon get into a fight over the jurisdiction of the case. Lee, believing Tan is the head of the operation, learns that Tan will be attending a dinner party on his yacht. Tan scolds his underling, Hu Li (Zhang Ziyi), who then leaves as Lee and Carter confront Tan. Tan claims that someone is trying to frame him. Hu Li suddenly appears and shoots Ricky Tan, making her escape in the chaos, and an angry Sterling holds Lee responsible for Tan's death, and orders him off the case. Carter is ordered to be flown back to Los Angeles for involving himself. However, Lee and Carter return to L.A. together.

On the plane, Carter tells Lee that in every large criminal operation, there is a rich white man behind it and that man is Steven Reign (Alan King), an L.A. hotel billionaire that Carter says he saw on Tan's boat and that his calm demeanor during the shooting was suspicious. They set up camp outside the Reign Towers, spotting a sexy U.S. Secret Service agent named Isabella Molina (Roselyn Sánchez), whom Carter met on Ricky Tan's yacht. After they watch Molina undress, and a few misunderstandings, Molina tells the two men that she is undercover, looking into Reign's money laundering of $100 million in superdollars (high grade counterfeit $100 bills).

Lee and Carter pay a visit to Kenny (Don Cheadle), an ex-con known to Carter who runs a gambling den in the back of the Chinese restaurant he owns. He tells them that a usually broke customer recently came into his establishment with a suspicious amount of hundred-dollar bills. Carter speculates them and confirms that they are Reign's counterfeits. They trace the money back to a bank friendly to the Triads, who are waiting for them and knock the two cops unconscious, with Molina looking on. After arriving in Las Vegas, Lee and Carter wake up inside one of the Triads' trucks and escape. After finding out where they are, they realize that Reign is laundering the $100 million through the new Red Dragon Casino (filmed at the now demolished Desert Inn).

At the Red Dragon, Lee and Carter split up. Lee attempts to infiltrate the back area to find the engraving plates (which were used to make the counterfeit money) while Carter makes a distraction, to attract all the security allowing Lee to pass. However, Hu Li captures Lee and places a small bomb in his mouth. She then takes him up to the penthouse, where it is revealed that Ricky Tan faked his death and, as Lee suspected, is in charge of the operation. Tan soon departs the room, and Molina attempts to arrest Hu Li leading to a confrontation between the two. But, despite Molina's best efforts, she is defeated due to Hu Li's martial arts experience. In the enusing chaos, Carter is able to free Lee from the bomb in his mouth before Hu Li has the chance to detonate it. Carter then fights Hu Li, while Lee heads to the penthouse to prevent Tan from escaping with the plates.

In the penthouse, Reign opens the safe and takes the plates, running into Tan as he leaves. After Reign announces he is cutting their deal short and keeping the plates, Tan stabs him with a knife, killing him. Lee arrives and confronts Tan along with Carter, who shortly appears after (accidentally) knocking out Hu Li. After a tense standoff, where Tan admits he killed Lee's father, Tan tries to break free, but Lee kicks Tan out of the window and he falls to his death. Hu Li then enters, holding a time bomb. Lee and Carter leap out of the window just as the bomb goes off, killing Hu Li. They slide on decoration wires with their jackets and barely escape the traffic on the street in the process.

Later, at the airport, Sterling thanks Lee for his work on the case. Molina says she would like to tell Lee something, and proceeds to kiss him for a short time, an event witnessed from afar by Carter. Lee and Carter plan to go their separate ways, but Lee reveals that he has always wanted to go to Madison Square Garden and watch a New York Knicks basketball game. Carter tells Lee he could go for one more vacation, and the two of them decide to go to New York City.

Cast

Jackie Chan as Chief Inspector Lee
Chris Tucker as Detective James Carter
John Lone as Ricky Tan
Zhang Ziyi as Hu Li
Roselyn Sánchez as U.S. Secret Service Agent Isabella Molina
Alan King as Steven Reign
Harris Yulin as U.S. Secret Service Agent Sterling
Kenneth Tsang as Hong Kong Police Captain Chin
Lisa LoCicero as Receptionist
Mei Melançon as Girl in Car (as Meiling Melancon)
Maggie Q as Girl in Car
Don Cheadle as Kenny (uncredited)
Audrey Quock as Kenny's Wife
Ernie Reyes, Jr. as Zing
Joel McKinnon Miller as Tex
Cynthia Pinot High Roller Girl
Jeremy Piven as Versace Salesman
Brad Allan as Red Dragon Security Guard (uncredited)
Philip Baker Hall as Captain William Diel (deleted scenes)
Oscar Goodman as Himself (deleted scenes)

Release

Prior to its August 4 release, Rush Hour 2 was premiered to the public on Thursday, July 26, 2001 on-board United Airlines Flight 1 from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, which was renamed, "The Rush Hour Express". The Hong Kong Board of Tourism teamed up with United Airlines and New Line Cinemas in a campaign that offered both trailers for the film for passengers on all domestic United flights during July and August (reaching an expected 3 million people), as well as Hong Kong travel videos to inspire tourists to visit China where the film was set. This promotion is thought to have aided greatly in the film's success despite lackluster reviews from most critics.

Box office

Rush Hour 2 opened on August 3, 2001 in 3,118 North American theaters, and it grossed $67,408,222.87 ($21,619 per screen) in its opening weekend. It ended its run with $226,164,286.92, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2001 domestically, and the highest-grossing martial arts film of all time, excluding Kung Fu Panda in 2008, because it is an animated film whereas Rush Hour 2 is live action.

The film's total worldwide box office take was $347,325,802, making it the eleventh highest-grossing film of 2001 worldwide.

After being adjusted for inflation, Rush Hour 2 out-grossed its predecessor, Rush Hour. This was due to the fact that it had a little more box office longevity and lasted consistently within the domestic box office top ten for roughly two weeks longer than Rush Hour. In addition, the hype surrounding Rush Hour 2 helped it maintain high numbers for a longer period of time. After fifty days since its domestic release, Rush Hour was only 10 on the box office charts while comparatively, Rush Hour 2 was still pulling in big audiences after fifty days in theaters and was the 2 grossing film domestically.

Accolades

Rush Hour 2 earned a total of 27 award nominations and 10 wins, including an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight, a Teen Choice Award for Film-Choice Actor, Comedy, and 3 Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Male Butt Kicker (Chan), Favorite Movie Actor (Tucker), and Favorite Movie.

Sequel

Because of development hell, Rush Hour 3 was not released until August 10, 2007"?six years after Rush Hour 2. A fourth installment in the series is in negotiations, however, and reportedly may be set in Moscow.

Details

One of the girls in the car who is shown when Chris Tucker is on the streets was Maggie Q.
Aside from Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, no other characters or actors from the first film appear. However, the DVD release contains a deleted scene featuring Philip Baker Hall reprising his role of Captain Diel from the first film. Carter speaks with the Captain about his stay in Hong Kong and his involvement in the Triad case. Director Brett Ratner states in the DVD audio commentary that while he would have loved to include the scene in the final cut (essentially giving Hall a cameo appearance), it did not advance the plot. Therefore, it was left out.
In the car, after Lee supposedly thinks that Carter is dead, he listens to "I'll Be Missing You" by Diddy (whom, at the time of the song's recording, was known as Puff Daddy).
The Red Dragon Casino in Las Vegas owned by Ricky Tan (John Lone) and Steven Reign (Alan King) is actually the Desert Inn hotel and casino. Red lights were shined at the hotel to make it a scarlet color. Following the closure of the 50 year old Las Vegas Strip property in August 2000 by new owner Steve Wynn, the Rush Hour 2 production moved in and redesigned parts of the property as a Chinese themed casino/hotel for the movie. Shortly after the movie wrapped production in Las Vegas the buildings used in the film were imploded to make way for the new $2.7 billion Wynn Las Vegas resort. Furthermore, "Red Dragon" is the name of another movie that Brett Ratner directed, as well as the name of a real casino in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, USA.
Prop gaming chips were produced for the film, ranging in denominations from $1 to $1,000,000. These are much sought after by both film fans and gaming collectors.
Zhang Ziyi only speaks three words of English in the film, two of which are her famous line "Some apple?", (however, she is seen mouthing "Here's your package. You're welcome." while Lee and Carter are spying on Molina through the windows from the neighboring tower) as she did not know the language at the time of filming. Jackie Chan served as her translator on the set.
Zhang Ziyi's character name, "Hu Li", means "fox".
Don Cheadle only agreed to appear in the film under two circumstances: that he got to speak Chinese and pick a fight with Jackie Chan.
The first two films in the Rush Hour series begin in Hong Kong and end in a United States airport.
In a chase scene, as Chris Tucker is running up the stairs, an old Chinese woman gets blocked by him, and she shouts "Step aside, Kobe!" inreference to Kobe Bryant. Tucker said on the Jay Leno show that during filming, many locals mistook him for Bryant. (However, in the DVD audio commentary, Rattner states that Jeff Nathanson came up with the line shortly before the filming of that scene.)
Another outtake shown at the end of the film has Chris Tucker accidentally forgetting to turn off his cell phone and receiving a call while filming an airport scene. Despite telling the caller he cannot speak to Jackie Chan, Tucker hands Chan the phone, who repeats that they are currently filming the scene (and, jokingly, that "you're wasting our film").
In the scene where Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker walk inside the business suite, Ernie Reyes, Jr. appears in a cameo as the worker who is chased by Chan and Tucker.

Soundtrack

Main article: Rush Hour 2 (soundtrack)

A soundtrack containing hip hop and R&B music was released on July 31, 2001 by Hollywood Records and Epic Records. It peaked at 11 on the Billboard 200 and 11 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Home media

VHS

Release date	Country	Classification/rating	Publisher	Format	Language	Subtitles	Notes	REF
11 December 2001	United States	PG-13	New Line Home Video	NTSC	English	None
11 March 2002	United Kingdom	12	Eiv	PAL	English	None

DVD

Release date	Country	Classification/rating	Publisher	Format	Region	Language	Sound	Subtitles	Notes	Ref
11 December 2001	United States	PG-13	New Line Home Video	NTSC	1	English	DD 2.0 Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1	English	Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (16:9)
24 December 2001	United Kingdom	12	Eiv	PAL	2	English	Unknown	English	Aspect ratio: 1.77:1 (16:9)

UMD

Release date	Country	Classification/rating	Publisher	Format	Region	Language	Sound	Subtitles	Notes	REF
26 September 2005	United Kingdom	12	Eiv	PAL	2	English	Unknown	English
3 January 2006	United States	PG-13	New Line Home Video	NTSC	1	English	Unknown	English

Blu-ray

Rush Hour 2 is the only installment in the series to not receive a Blu-Ray release. A planned Blu-Ray release was originally set to be released on October 2007 in the U.S., and 26 December 2007 in the U.K. to coincide with the releases of Rush Hour & Rush Hour 3 on the same format. For reasons unknown, both dates were pulled from the release schedule and was never released.