M's Musings on RUSH HOUR 2

Rush Hour 2.  Dir.  Brett Ratner.  Screenplay by Jeff Nathanson.  Based on characters by Ross LaManna.  Ft. Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.  New Line, 2001.

Thank God there was a second one!  God forbid we let this film franchise fade into obscurity.  Nah... We'll do it one better:  we'll make Rush Hour 2 the top grossing live action "martial arts" film of all time.  And then, we'll celebrate it.  Take that, China!  Take that, kung fu!  Who needs you, anyway?

T and I only half watched this movie while writing our carefully thought-through reviews for the last movie.  From what I saw, I was impressed.  No, honestly, I am serious.  This movie was actually better than the last one.  They took a more no-holes-barred approach to the humour.  Instead of tip toeing around being offensive...  this film is like, shit man, I am going to lay out every white stereotype I can about black people AND Asian people in an hour and a half!

Asian people are cuddly, but asexual, "like Snoopy".  Black people like titties.  Asian men have small penises.  Black men need small bills because they are broke ass.  Etc, etc, ad infinitum.

The best part of this movie was all the dialogue in Chinese.  Particularly for T. and I, who watched it without subtitles.  At one point we just looked at each other and said, "It's not like it matters anyway".  We need to do a cleanse and watch a good martial arts movie.  Maybe it's time we review Hero.  It is both beautiful, and stars Zhang Ziyi, who is also beautiful.  In Rush Hour 2 she plays the evil villian who never, not once, speaks English (it makes her easier to villify that way).

Before I go wash my eyes out with soap, I'd like to mention one more thing:  This movie did not have even a fleeting reference to a Rush Hour.

That is all.

M's Musings on Rush Hour

Rush Hour.  Dir. Brett Ratner.  Screenplay by Jim Kouf and Ross La Manna.  Based on a story by Ross LaManna.  Ft. Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.  New Line, 1998.

Really had little to do with a rush hour.  It seems that in LA the traffic jam was a pretense for the kidnapping of a young girl.  Really, this movie centred around something that could not be encapsulated in two words.  This is a cop comedy that is also a juxtaposition of extremes from the east and the west.  Likely written by a white guy in his basement (note: upon some basic internet research, survey says: it is), this movie is based on the balancing of two different sets of racial stereotypes.


In some ways, we can view this as positive.  It inverts the usual racialized sidekick by having them both act equally in this capacity to each other.  And, the criminal turns out to be white.  So...  a big step forward for the film industry?


I think not.  This movie had lots of stuff blow up.  It also had lots of jokes surrounding mispronunciation and cultural assimilation...  I found it was funny, but never in a laugh-out-loud kind of way.  I felt like it both was and wasn't trying to be politically correct.  It definitely was appealing to the lowest common denominator...  In some ways I kind of felt like it was meant to give them a little "culture".  What it actually did was showcase how sad and conventional American culture and the film industry continue to be.  In this way, I am glad it happened.  At least there is no illusions about what we are dealing with here.

Watching the little girl sing along to the radio was sweet.  Watching Jackie Chan do the same thing was, well... taking an icon from one country and depriving him of his masculinity and status.  He became the butt of the joke, which, I guess, at least made him a ton of money.


Chris Tucker's shrill voice will probably keep me awake tonight.  Yeesh.