(reviewed at AMC Granite Run 8 with Mom on Wednesday, August 8th, 2001)
This summer has to have been one of the worst summers on record. No, I am not talking about weather wise or real news wise. No, I’m talking about movie wise. The summer movie season is always my favorite. I anticipate it after Christmas because it’s the next big thing. Yes, it helps that I get off school for 3 months, but in reality, I would love the summer movie season even if I was working.
This summer’s crop looked somewhat promising. But so far, with only a few left to hit (Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion to name the biggest), this summer has turned out to be the Hollywood Summer of Shit 2001. I missed a lot of films, including A Knight’s Tale, Evolution, Tomb Raider, Swordfish, Atlantis, Scary Movie 2, The Score, Made, Ghost World, Sexy Beast, America’s Sweethearts, Legally Blonde, to name a few. I saw a lot too, including The Mummy Returns, Shrek, Pearl Harbor, A.I., Jurassic Park 3, The Planet of the Apes, and American Pie 2.
Shrek was a little bit too over the top for me, but it was entertaining and great to look at. Spielberg’s A.I. was a hit or miss film, but I think I enjoyed the majority of it. As for the rest, where do I begin? Pearl Harbor had a good forty minute explosion sandwiched between some of the worst horse shit put on film. Jurassic Park 3 may have been made for children, but it still royally sucked. How hard is it to make a friggin’ good dinosaur movie??? And the worst movie of the summer had to be one of the most anticipated, and yes, with The Planet of the Apes, we should have realized going in that Tim Burton and co. were going to fuck it up. They even ripped off the surprise ending from a Kevin Smith comic book (unproven, but still, I think it’s funny that USA Today and The New York Post wrote about it).
How hard is it to make a good popcorn film? It shouldn’t be hard at all. Is it harder to make a good popcorn film than a good drama or a comedy? Maybe, because I have only seen two good popcorn films all year, and only one of them hit this summer. The summertime is supposed to be the time we see these great popcorn films. Remember when popcorn films were actually watchable? Jurassic Park was awesome, as was True Lies and Speed. I haven’t seen a good popcorn film like those three in years.
And this late in the summer (Friday, August 3rd- Opening Day) we finally get to see a good popcorn film. Not an awesome popcorn film, but one that just makes you smile and have a good time with. To smile and laugh and clap and leave the theater smiling proudly.
This movie, not surprisingly, is Rush Hour 2. This sequel re-teams Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as the yin and yang (one’s funny, one’s exciting) detectives out to solve a pseudo-plot. If you remember the first film, then you recall that a Chinese girl was abducted in Los Angeles and Jackie Chan was sent to solve the case. Chan had to team with a street smart detective played by Chris Tucker. If you remember the first film, then you remember the arguments (“Do…you…understand…the…words…that… are….coming…out…of …my…mouth?”) and the lesson on how to sing the song “War.”
In this sequel, Chris Tucker heads to Hong Kong for some vaca, while Chan is busy attempting to solve the mystery of a U.S. Embassy bombing. The reason to see this film is not for the plot however, which only gets sillier and sillier. And even Zhang Ziyi (the feisty little beauty from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) is half-wasted as a villainious non-speaking bomb expert (don’t ask). The reason to see this film is for Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. There is more action in this film than in the first, but this film is first and foremost a comedy. And what a comedy it is. Chris Tucker may annoy those over thirty, but to me he is downright hilarious. He makes this movie truly watchable. Some of his quips are legendary, especially his Godzilla tidbit.
Rush Hour 2 is not an Oscar winner. It is not a dramatic feat for the eyes. It isn’t even as funny or good as the first Hour (though it’s pretty close). I enjoyed Rush Hour 2. It had some action, a lot of laughs, but in the end, it’s just plain entertaining. I enjoyed it a lot. I didn’t want it to end. I laughed every time Chris Tucker turned his head. I was loving every action scene that they could fit into the film. This is the best popcorn film of the summer, which is kind of sad almost, but, granted, I’m glad we got at least one. **1/2
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