What’s the one thing this movie guarantees to deliver that will freeze all attempts to seriously scrutinize any part of it?
It delivers a dozen guffaws per minute. Sometimes even more!
For those who watched “Rush Hour”, and came away giddy with laughter, this does pretty much the same. The exotic duo of Inspectors Lee (Jackie Chan) and James Carter (Chris Tucker) haven’t aged a bit; instead, they’ve taken the action to the other side of the Pacific and are in danger of starting an international incident with their crazy antics.
Tucker’s looking for some serious fun - in fact, that’s all he wants this holiday. Brazen standoffs with the bad guys, at joints that seem to encompass the entire oriental social fitting, from Karaoke bars (where Tucker goes ballistic with the music) to massage parlours (where Tucker goes ballistic with the women) to yachts (where…you get the idea) ensure that the audience is entertained during the process.
But while they’re doing the moonwalk, a criminal bombing of the American Embassy interrupts their shenanigans. It seems that one of the triads is on a rampage, smuggling counterfeit American bills into the parent county. The cataclysmic couple follows a lead and make a U-turn for the USA, despite menacing orders to stay out from the American Secret Service.
While there is virtually no storyline, and the cinematography is not exactly awe-inspiring, the only credits, if any, should accrue to the lead men - one for the size of his mouth, and the other for the fury of his feet. Even pedestrian witticisms and corny takeoffs on each other’s ethnic origins come through as funny, solely because of the comic genius that is Chris Tucker. Chan, playing the apologetic second fiddle to Tucker’s outrages, holds sway only when there’s some butt-kickin’ kung fu to display. Taking a break from traipsing off trees, Ziyi Zhang still does a lot of sword wielding in this movie - only here, she’s wearing Armani.
To beat the mundane, it’s good to take in a movie that you don’t want to debate on later, that doesn’t require more than basic intelligence, and that takes you back to good ol’ entertainment. Watch this one for a laugh!
This article was first published on 18 Sep 2001.