Rush Hour 3

Rush Hour 3 Information

Rush Hour 3 is a 2007 martial arts/action-comedy film, and the third installment in the Rush Hour series, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, that began with the 1998 film Rush Hour and continued with its 2001 sequel Rush Hour 2. The film was officially announced on May 7, 2006, and filming began on July 4, 2006. The film is set in Paris, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong. Rush Hour 3 was released on August 10, 2007, in the United States. A fourth film is currently in consideration by the series' creators.

Film director Roman Polanski co-stars as a French police official involved in Lee and Carter's (Chan and Tucker's characters) case. In her first appearance in an American film, Noémie Lenoir portrays Geneviève, a beautiful stage performer who is one of the main suspects in the case as well as Carter's love interest. Tzi Ma reprises his role as Ambassador Han, Lee's boss and friend who appeared in Rush Hour. Yvan Attal co-stars as George, a cab driver who becomes Lee and Carter's new sidekick.

Plot

Carter (Tucker) is directing traffic. Concurrently, Chinese Ambassador Han addresses the importance of fighting the Triads at the World Criminal Court, announcing that he may know the whereabouts of Shi Shen, a semi-mythical individual of great importance to the Triads. Before announcing, an assassin shoots and Han takes a bullet in the shoulder, disrupting the conference. Chief Inspector Lee (Chan) pursues the shooter and corners him, discovering that the assassin is his Japanese foster brother Kenji (Sanada). When Lee hesitates to shoot Kenji, he makes his escape.

In the hospital, Lee learns that Han will make a full recovery. Han's daughter, Soo-Yung (Zhang), now grown up, arrives and makes Lee and Carter promise to capture the one behind the shooting. She then informs Lee and Carter that her father gave her an envelope which contains important information regarding the Triads, and that the envelope is in her locker at the martial arts studio where she teaches. Lee and Carter make their way to the studio, but find out that a gang of armed men have already arrived and emptied it. The duo are then told by the Master of the studio that Soo-Yung and Han are in danger, and rush back to the hospital.

Once the two reach the hospital, a gang of assassins arrive to kill Soo-Yung and Han. Lee and Carter manage to defeat them. They interrogate the leader of the assassins but find that he only speaks French. A nun, Sister Agnes (Dana Ivey), who can speak French, translates for them and Carter and Lee find out that they are marked for death by the Triad along with Soo-Yung and Han. For her protection, they take Soo-Yung to the French Embassy and leave her under the care of Reynard (Max von Sydow), the French ambassador and the chairman of the World Criminal Court. When a car bomb nearly kills Reynard and Soo-Yung the duo decides to go to Paris to investigate.

In Paris, after getting a painful cavity search from Parisian commissioner Revi (Roman Polanski), Lee and Carter meet up with George, a taxi driver (Yvan Attal), who is prejudiced against Americans. He drives them to a Triad hideout. Once there, Lee got tricked into following a Triad assassin named Jasmine (Kudoh) because she told Lee she can "give him what he needs". while Carter meets a beautiful woman whose name is not disclosed (Lenoir). Lee and Carter tried to escape but were captured by Kenji's men and Carter finds out who Kenji was. Reynard later tells Lee that Shi Shen is not a person, but a list of the Triad leaders and reveals that Han's informant knows where to find it. The informant turns out to be Geneviève, the woman Carter met at the gentleman's club.

After the two locate Geneviève, they save her from an assassination attempt by the Triads and flee to their hotel room. Privately, Carter tries to interrogate Genviève but they find themselves falling in love with each other. They attempt to make love but they are attacked again by Jasmine. No longer safe at the hotel, they decide to hide out with George, who now has developed a great appreciation for the United States, and decides to help them solve the case. Lee and Carter learn that Geneviève not only knows where the list is, but that she is the list. The names of the thirteen Triad leaders have been tattooed on the back of her head, as per tradition, and Geneviève explains that she will be decapitated and buried if the Triads capture her. When Lee and Carter bring Geneviève to Reynard, he accidentally reveals that he has been working with the Triads all along. Kenji calls and informs Lee that he has captured Soo-Yung and that he would like to exchange her for Geneviève.

Lee arrives at the exchange point, the Jules Verne Restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, with Carter disguised as Geneviève. Kenji challenges Lee to a sword fight, during which the two fall off the tower and get caught in a safety net. Kenji's sword cuts the safety net open and it collapses, leaving both men hanging on for dear life. Lee grabs Kenji's arm, intending to save his life. Kenji says his final goodbye to Lee and willingly lets go of him as he falls to his death, saving Lee's life. Lee then manages to climb up to safety. Meanwhile, Carter saves Soo-Yung and defeats Jasmine who gets stuck between a large wheel and is split in half (off camera).

As Carter and Lee send Soo-Yung down the elevator to safety, they make their escape from the Triads by gliding down to safety with a large French flag. Unfortunately, they are confronted by Reynard, holding Geneviève hostage and threatening to kill her and frame them. However, George, having followed Lee and Carter, shoots Reynard from behind. The police arrive, with Commissioner Revi gloating and trying to get undeserved credit. After giving him a team punch to the face, Lee and Carter leave the scene dancing to the Edwin Starr song "War".

Cast

Jackie Chan as Chief Inspector Lee
Chris Tucker as Detective James Carter
Hiroyuki Sanada as Kenji
Yvan Attal as George
Zhang Jingchu as Soo-Yung
Noémie Lenoir as Geneviève / Shi Shen
Roman Polanski as Commissaire Revi (uncredited)
Youki Kudoh as Dragon Lady Jasmine
Tzi Ma as Ambassador Solon Han
Henry O as Master Yu
Max von Sydow as Varden Reynard
Philip Baker Hall as Captain William Diel (uncredited)
Dana Ivey as Sister Agnes
Sun Mingming as Kung-Fu Giant
Sarah Shahi as Zoe
Mia Tyler as Marsha
Lisa Thornhill as the Nurse
Julie Depardieu as Paulette
David Niven, Jr. as British Foreign Minister
Roselyn Sanchez as U.S. Secret Service Agent Isabella Molina (deleted scenes)

Release

Box office

Rush Hour 3 was produced on a budget estimated at $140 million.

It opened on August 10, 2007 and grossed $49,100,158 in its first three days. The film's total North American gross was $140,125,968, far below the gross of Rush Hour 2 and slightly behind even the gross of the original. Noted Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo:

Rush Hour 3 grossed $255,045,928 worldwide.

Critical reception

Unlike its predecessors, the film received generally unfavorable reviews from critics, primarily on the film's more crude humor. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 44 based on 32 reviews indicating "mixed or average reviews". Desson Thomson of The Washington Post, giving it three and a half stars out of five, said "at the risk of eternal damnation on the Internet, I admit to laughing at — even feeling momentarily touched by — Rush Hour 3." On Rotten Tomatoes the film had a score of 19% based on 157 reviews with a consensus of "Rush Hour 3 is a tired rehash of earlier films, and a change of scenery can't hide a lack of new ideas." Todd Gilchrist of IGN movies said, "A movie that not only depends on but demands you don't think in order to enjoy it." Christian Toto of The Washington Times said, "The Rush job should put the franchise down for good." Christopher Tookey of the Daily Mail said, "Infecting this third movie is an extra, deeply unpleasant level of racism that we haven't seen before in the series." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was slightly more positive giving the film two stars and saying, "...once you realize it's only going to be so good, you settle back and enjoy that modest degree of goodness, which is at least not badness, and besides, if you're watching Rush Hour 3, you obviously didn't have anything better to do, anyway." James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four, and said the movie was dull, uninspired and redundant.

Distribution in China

The film was not screened in Chinese theaters in 2007, to make way for a larger variety of foreign films for that year, according to a business representative. (The quota for imported films is 20 each year.)

Home media release

The film was released on December 26, 2007, on DVD, VHS and Blu-ray Disc. As of March 30, 2008, the film has made $80.75 million in Home Video rentals, making it the top rental of 2007.

Sequel

Main article: Rush Hour (film series)#Future

Because of the film's box office success, director Brett Ratner and writer Jeff Nathanson are currently considering the production of a fourth film in the Rush Hour series. In the DVD audio commentary for Rush Hour 3, Brett Ratner jokes that Rush Hour 4 could be released in 2012. Ratner and Nathanson are exploring many concepts, including the use of the motion capture technique for the possible sequel and various film projects with Chan and Tucker. It has been reported that the fourth film may be set in Moscow.

In a recent interview with Vulture, Ratner stated that the high cost of making a sequel is, "why another Rush Hour probably won't get made, either: It'd be too much to pay me, Chris [Tucker], and Jackie [Chan] to come back."

In an interview, on May 12, 2012, Jackie [Chan] reveals that he is still planning on a Rush Hour 4 and a Karate Kid 2, sequel.

Soundtrack

The original motion picture soundtrack for this movie was released on August 8, 2007 on CD and audio cassette from New Line Records and Columbia Records.

"Do Me, Baby" - Performed by Prince & Chris Tucker
"Less Than an Hour (Theme Song from Rush Hour 3)" - Performed by Nas & Cee-Lo Green
"War [Extended Version]" - Performed by Edwin Starr, Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker and Adrienne Bailon
"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" - Performed by Jackie Wilson
"Bonnie and Clyde" - Performed by Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot
"The Stoinked Quay (Original Score)" - Composed by Lalo Schifrin
"New Line Cinema Theme (Original Score)" - Composed by Lalo Schifrin
"Shaolin Fight" (Original Score) - Composed by Mark Mothersbaugh
"Adrienne Bailon!" (Original Score) - Composed and Conducted by Lalo Schifrin & Mark Mothersbaugh
"The Closer I Get To You" - Performed by Luther Vandross, Beyonce, Jackie Chan, and Chris Tucker