Rush Hour

1998  PG-13  ACTION-COMEDY  1h 38min

CAST— Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Tom Wilkinson, Chris Penn, Elizabeth Peña

MUSIC— Lalo Schifrin  DIRECTOR— Brett Ratner

     Good God. You all. In what is probably his definitive American role, martial arts master Jackie Chan does what he does best. When the Chinese Consul's 11 year-old daughter is kidnapped on American soil the FBI takes over the case. But the Consul wants trusted operative Chan on the case. The feds are not so sure about this idea, so they send Chris Tucker, a bumbling, unorthodox and ceaselessly annoying LAPD detective to babysit Chan. But Chan proves to be a bit more wily than anticipated. He evades Tucker, re-establishes contact with the Consul and vows to rescue the girl. Easier said than done. There's plenty of opposition from the kidnappers, including shootouts, explosions and good ol' fashioned hand to hand combat. Chan is in top form as anything and everything potentially becomes a weapon of defense or offence. And Tucker... what can one say? Sure, he's a great comedic foil for Chan but really, a few minutes of his antics would have been more than enough. But for those lovers of Tucker, don't worry; two more sequels are to follow. Later developed into a television series.

OUR RATING— ***

FOLLOWED BY— Rush Hour 2 (2001), Rush Hour 3 (2007)