Rush Hour: Difference between revisions

Somewhere in Hollywood, a group of executives [[My Friends and Zoidberg|and Brett Ratner]] decided that [[Jackie Chan]] and Chris Tucker should make a movie together. The results were... [[Better Than It Sounds|actually quite good]]. The series centers on a pair of police detectives - one a Chinese police inspector, the other an LAPD detective - as they go on a series of misadventures often involving corrupt crime figures. The film incorporates elements of martial arts, and the buddy cop sub-genre.

[[File:RushHour.jpg|frame]]

{{smallcaps|Rush Hour}} (1998)

 

 

 

The first movie was a major success and became the 7th top grossing film of 1998, with a gross of over $140 million dollars at the U.S. box office. The combination of motor-mouthed Tucker with Chan's gravity defying stunts proved to be a winning combination, in no small part due to Chan's movies being mostly comedies anyway.

[[File:RushHour2.jpg|frame]]

{{smallcaps|Rush Hour 2}} (2001)

 

 

But following some hunches Lee and Carter fly back to Los Angeles where they meet a woman in the Secret Service who directs them on how to find the counterfeiters. Like the first movie, she was trying to get them out of her way but Lee and Carter again find the right chain of evidence that takes them to Las Vegas and the perfect money-laundering location.

 

{{smallcaps|Rush Hour 3}} (2007)

 

 

But their race will take them across the city, from the depths of the Paris underground to the breathtaking heights of the Eiffel Tower, as they fight to outrun the world's most deadly criminals and save the day. Of the three, this is the [[Sequelitis|least well-received]].

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* [[All Asians Are Alike]]: In Part Two, after hitting Lee by mistake in the massage parlor fight, Carter says "All y'all look alike!."

* [[Arson, Murder, and Lifesaving]]: The chief invokes this trope to make it seem like he's impressed with Tucker. He's actually quite angry, but is lying to get Tucker to accept a humiliating assignment as a supposed reward.

* [[Buddy Cop Show]]: See [[Odd Couple]].

* [[The Cameo]]: Jeremy Piven and Don Cheadle (who took it under the condition he would get a brief sparring moment with Chan) in Part Two, and [[Roman Polanski]] in Part Three.

** In the same outtakes, he says to Chan "If I didn't [[Camp Straight|have a girlfriend]], I would be [[Bi the Way|all over you]]!"

* [[Ceiling Cling]]: Parodied in the second film.

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: Literally. Carter carries a second gun in the first film that's first played for laughs after he is disarmed; pretty much saves his life at the end.

* [[Chekhov's Skill]]: Carter requests that Lee teach him the gun disarming skill Lee used on him earlier. Carter uses it later on a mook and even lampshades it "Didn't know I could do that, did you?"

* [[Cowboy Cop]]: Both Carter AND Lee. Especially Carter; he causes massive property damage, uses highly questionable investigation techniques, and doesn't bother hiding the fact he smokes weed.

* [[Crowd Hockey]]: The detonator in ''Rush Hour 2''.

* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]: Carter is generally loud, rude, and almost gleefully engages in [[Uncle Tomfoolery]] but proves to be a competent investigator and ''insanely'' fast on the draw in the first movie and defeats two accomplished martial artists who gave Lee trouble in 2 and 3.

* [[Did Not Do the Research]]: The plastic explosive known as C-4 is highly stable and resistant to things like fire and gunshots, and it's also known for making a pretty powerful, forceful (not fiery) explosion when detonated. Carter shoots a trunk full of C-4 in the first film and triggers a small, standard Hollywood pyrotechnic show, indicating that the people behind the movie knew ''none'' of the aforementioned facts.

** Or just followed the [[Rule of Cool]].

* [[Disney Villain Death]]: Happens to all three of the main villains in the series, though usually with a bit more proof they didn't survive the impact than at Disney. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] during the blooper reel of ''Rush Hour 2''.

* [[The Dragon]]: Sang (Ken Leung) in the first movie, Hu Li ([[Zhang Ziyi]]) in the second. Hu Li also doubles as the [[Dragon Lady]].

* [[Eagle Land]]: Not so much in the first two movies, but in ''Rush Hour 3'' Carter gets pretty obnoxiously Flavor 2; accusing all Iraqis of being terrorists and forcing a Frenchman to sing the US anthem ''at gunpoint''.

* [[Eiffel Tower Effect]]: The setting for the climatic battle at the end of the third film.

** He still is actually a competent cop. In the second movie he correctly guesses that the owner of the casino was in league with Ricky Tan ("follow the rich white man") and even manages to last in a fight against Hu-Li. In movie 3 he also is able to find the location of a club (if not by accident) that a mook only gives a vague address of, defeats several Triad bosses (on his own) and rescues Soo-Yung (again). It should also be noted that his antics actually get him ''demoted'' to traffic duty by number 3.

** The [[Bilingual Bonus]] here is that the Chinese the driver is speaking translates to "Money first."

* [[French Jerk]]: The officer played by [[Roman Polanski]].

* [[Freudian Slip]]: Carter, when discussing the funny money with Isabella, who's in only her underwear and bathrobe:

'''Carter''': Yeah, this is my titty. I mean, this is my city. }}

* [[Gay Moment]]: Lee gratefully kisses Carter's cheeks a few times after he's rescued by Carter's quick thinking at the end of the first film. Carter, having just had Lee collide with his crotch, just wanted Lee off him ASAP. "What the hell you doin'?" "I was just... being polite." "[[That Came Out Wrong|Well, next time, be polite to my nuts!]]"

** And then, of course, there was the ''hysterical'' [[Camp Gay]] store attendant in ''Rush Hour 2.''

'''Carter:''' I ain't shoppin' with ''you'' no more. }}

* [[Glove Snap]]: Done by French airport security in ''Rush Hour 3''.

** Does the fact that the officer is played by ''[[Roman Polanski]]'' make it more disturbing or funnier?

* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: Bordering on [[Ho Yay]].

** The first had [[The Dark Knight Saga|Carmine Falcone]] and [[Lost|Miles]] {{spoiler|in cahoots}}

** In the second movie, Hu-Li is played by [[Zhang Ziyi]], who is probably best known for ''[[Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon]]'', ''[[House of Flying Daggers]]'' and ''[[Memoirs of a Geisha]]''.

* [[Improvised Zipline]]: Used to escape an explosion in the second movie.

* [[Ironic Echo]]: When Carter told Sang and his goons in the Foo Chow restaurant to "put their guns down and fight like a man." Which Sang would later tell Carter the same line in the expo facing each other.

* [[Jerkass]]: The FBI agents in the first movie.

* [[MacGuffin Melee]]: The Red Dragon Casino fight, involving a bomb detonator.

* [[Misfit Mobilization Moment]]

* [[Monumental Battle]]: The fight on the Eiffel Tower at the end of the third film.

* [[My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad]]: In the first movie, Lee and Carter get into an argument about their deceased fathers, culminating in this:

'''Carter''': [[Hypocritical Humor|Don't talk about my daddy]]. }}

* [[My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels]]: Thanks to his poor poor Cantonese, Carter invited two girls to get naked and sacrifice a small goat instead of having a drink. He also told ''[[Bad Guy Bar|the entire triad bar]]'' to take out [[Katanas Are Just Better|their Samurai swords]] and shave his butt. It's heavily implied that he bought the wrong Chinese-To-English translation book before their trip to Hong Kong.

* [[One-Scene Wonder]]: The [[Camp Gay]] store attendant from ''Rush Hour 2''.

** Played by [[Entourage|Jeremy Piven]].

** Lee and Carter have one of these in the second movie

'''Carter:''' Detective Yu? }}

* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]: Carter and Lee.

* [[Running Gag]]: An ''actual'' running gag shows up in the outtakes, when Chris Tucker keeps forgetting to call Jackie Chan by his character's name.

* [[Sequel Goes Foreign]]: The second movie is set in Hong Kong and the third movie went to Paris.

** In fact he acts as something of a [[Papa Wolf]] towards her.

* [[Soul Brotha]]: Carter.

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: To the film ''Drive'', starring Mark Dacascos, a woefully underrated (and relatively unknown) action film from [[The Nineties]]. Brett Ratner even admitted that the only reason ''[[Rush Hour]]'' got made without legal complications is that almost no one knows it exists. Fans of ''[[Rush Hour]]'' and action films in general should definitely check it out (but ''only'' the Director's Cut. [[Executive Meddling|Long story]].)

** He also admitted to not understanding a good portion of the jokes in the films.

* [[Stab the Salad]]: Before fighting Carter towards the end of the second movie, Hu Li grabs a chopstick, holding it menacingly, only to use it to tie her hair back.

* [[Tempting Fate]]: In the first film, Lee threatens that nothing better happen to all the priceless Chinese art and artifacts. Carter reassures him: "Don't worry, ain't nothin' gonna happen to any of this stuff." Only a couple minutes later, a huge gunfight erupts in the room, which destroys many of the items.

* [[Title Drop]]: First movie only (and really, it's the only one where the title makes sense; what does Rush Hour have to do with the crimes taking place in Hong Kong or Paris?).

[''Sang shoots both guards and abducts Soo Yung''] }}

** To be fair, during the last hour of the sequels, Lee and Carter are usually ''rushing'' to get somewhere to stop someone dangerous, or rescue someone, so the title ''Rush Hour'' does kind of make sense. But that is stretching it.

* [[T-Word Euphemism]]: Played with in ''Rush Hour 3''. Carter and Lee are interrogating a man who speaks only French, so they enlist a nun, who's fluent in French, to translate. So, naturally, when she translates the prisoner's taunts, she summarizes with, "And he called you the N-word." For the rest of the scene, Carter and Lee ask her to translate things like, "Tell this piece of S-word that I'll kick his A-word," complete with brief stops to determine the spelling of some of the words.

* [[Uncle Tomfoolery]]: Carter, especially in the later movies.

** [[Eddie Murphy]] was also originally supposed to play as Carter, but turned the role down to work on another project.

'''Yu''': He is Mi, and I am Yu. }}

** ''[[Rush Hour]] 2'' did it in the opposite direction, when discussing Chris Tucker's character's apparent death.

* [[Wok Fu]]: There's a fight followed by a chase through a Chinese restaurant.

* [[Wouldn't Hit a Girl|Wouldn't Hit a Woman]]: Subverted through the second movie, as Carter tries to take on Hu Li, only to be KO-ed in each encounter. In their final fight, Carter says:

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Buddy Cop Show]]

[[Category:Zoic Studios]]