Rush Hour (1998)

Posted in Reviews by - January 18, 2013
Rush Hour (1998)

Hugely popular buddy cop comedy, the first American made success of Jackie Chan‘s career, contrary to previous attempts Battle Creek Crawl (1980) and The Protector (1985). The film not only broke him internationally but also made him a household name. But the plot is formulaic, the comedy desperate, the action sparse and not half as exciting as Jackie’s Hong Kong work. Jackie plays Inspector Lee, sent from Hong Kong to discover the whereabouts of the Consul’s missing daughter, kidnapped and held to ransom by Chinese terrorists. He is teamed with loudmouth LAPD detective James Carter (Tucker) and the two form an unlikely alliance determined to find the stolen girl. Much of the time is spent on the obvious culture clash of the two leads with Chan playing the naïve butt of Tucker’s brash humour, a role which elevated him from an annoying comedian to an incredibly popular annoying comedian. Many would argue this is prime fodder to introduce Jackie Chan to mainstream audiences, and they would be right, but it is still fodder and an excruciating waste of his talents.

This post was written by
Editor and creator of Kung Fu Movie Guide and the host of the Kung Fu Movie Guide Podcast. I live behind a laptop in London, UK.

Leave Your Comment