THE GUILFORDIAN
OCTOBER 2, 1998
Rush Hour: the ultimate popcorn movie
By Daniel Snyder
FEATURES FILM CRITIC
The "popcorn" movie has
become an integral part of the
American movie experience. Such
formulated film extravaganzas are
great for an evening of mindless
plot and wall-to-wall action.
Rush Hour is a popcorn
movie. Is this a bad thing? Not
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necessarily. Could it have been
anything else? No. Does it suc
ceed as a popcorn movie? Yes.
When Hong Kong crime-lords
kidnap a Chinese consul's daugh
ter, Jackie Chan is dispatched to
whoop ass. However, the FBI
agents working on the case do not
want some crazy Chinese fellow
running around Los Angeles chas
ing bad guys, so they devise a plan
to keep him out of their way.
They decide to stick him with
an L.A.P.D. officer who will basi
cally baby-sit Chan until the case
is solved. Then enters Chris
Tucker ( Friday, The Fifth Element,
Jackie Brown).
Tucker plays a rookie cop who
is almost as dangerous as Chan
but for different reasons. It's not
long before Tucker realizes his job
is going to be keeping up with this
crazy Chinese fellow.
Soon Tucker decides to assist
Chan in a separate investigation.
They soon learn that the head of
the gang is none other than Jackie
Chan's arch-nemesis from Hong
Kong.
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That's where the action
starts, including lots of chase
scenes and a big shoot-out in a
Chinese restaurant.
Tucker and Chan are great to
gether. They are genuinely fun
to watch and there is just some
thing really funny about Chris
Tucker taking Jackie Chan to
Grauman's Chinese Theatre and
saying, "Just like home ain't it?
Just like home!"
But Rush Hour comes across
more as a Chris Tucker vehicle
than a Jackie Chan movie, which
is great if you're a Tucker fan.
However, die-hard Jackie Chan
fans will probably be disappointed.
There are very few of the fight
scene antics and even less of the
incredible stunts that made Chan
famous.
At heart, Rush Hour is sim
ply a Hollywood version of a Hong
Kong action film with Chris
Tucker thrown into the mix. The
plot seems contrived, the movie is
too long, and director Brett
Ratner's generic cinematography
is just straight-out boring.
With the majority of Chan's
older films, you walk away remem
bering his stunts, which were al
ways shown from several different
camera angles.
With this movie, you will
walk away remembering the comic
routine: Tucker looking at Chan
and asking, "Do you understand
the words coming out of
my mouth?"
By Duncan Dunn
FEATURES FILM CRITIC
It's not often that I get exactly
what I expect out of a movie. On
such rare occasions, I tend to walk
away a little bemused. The latest
movie to leave
me feeling this
way is Rush
Hour. I got ex
actly what I
bargained for
when I bought
the ticket: a
non-stop thrill
ride.
Rush Hour
is the latest
Jackie Chan ac
tion extrava-
ganza. Chan's co-star in this one
is Chris Tucker ( Friday, The Fifth
Element, Money Talks). The plot,
as with most of Mr. Chan's films,
is pretty simple. Chan plays a top
Hong Kong detective imported to
America to help find the kid
napped daughter of a Chinese dip
lomat. The FBI does not want him
messing around in their investiga
tion, so they pass him off on
the LAPD.
The LAPD realizes that it is
getting stuck with a lame assign
ment, so they hand it over to their
resident screw-up, Chris Tucker.
Tucker's job is to baby-sit the for
eign crime fighter and keep him
out of trouble. Once this premise
is established, the action and com
edy can flow with ease.
To be honest, I was not really
looking forward to seeing this film.
Sure, I love Jackie Chan, and Chris
Tucker can be very funny, but I felt
the movie was going to be a little
too cliched for me. Two of the big
gest Hollywood formulas are in
this one: the buddy cop and the
stranger in town. I just had no de
sire to see the same movie plot re
hashed once again, especially since
Tucker's Money Talks let me down.
Fortunately, there was a little
more to Rush Hour than the pre
views suggested.
I must say that I was a little
surprised by the way the writers
handled the story. They could
have very easily put themselves in
"auto-writer" mode and churned
out a script containing a lot of ba-
nal one-liners and insults based
on the cultural differences be
tween the two leads. Instead,
they chose to get past that stuff
early in the script and work out a
more interesting relationship.
Once they become comfortable
Of course, we don't watch
a Jackie Chan film for
humor; we want action,
and Rush Hour delivers.
There are plenty of car
chases, kung-fu fights,
and spectacular stunts to
keep every action fan
glued to their seats.
Of course, we don't watch a
Jackie Chan film for humor; we
want action, and Rush Hour de
livers. There are plenty of car
chases, kung-fu fights, and spec
tacular stunts to keep every ac
tion fan glued to their seats.
The mixture of high-paced
action and witty comedy really
makes this an enjoyable experi
ence. It's a lot of fun to watch
this roller coaster of a film un
fold. Sure, it's not deep or par
ticularly artistic, but that's not
the point. - With Rush Hour , you
can just turn off your brain and
enjoy the ride.
Studying , cont'd from page 4
work done. It's all about finding
an area tKat suits your needs.
Your best bet? Look for places
that are out of the way and most
importantly, absolutely nowhere
near a sidewalk.
All of the following places
are quiet and lightly traveled
during most of the day. Try out
different areas and see what
works best for you.
Suggested places to read:
1. the art gallery
2. the lounge in Alumni
Gym (near faculty offices)
3. the periodicals section of
the library
4. the porch of Worth House
5. the Hut
6. benches that aren't near
a side walk
_ ,
7. under a tree
5
. with each
other, Chan
and Tucker's
characters de
velop a real
chemistry.
There is some
genuine humor
in this film, not
just the famil
iar, tired gags
found in most
action-comedy
' films.