RUSH HOUR 2

If you had a good time with the first teaming of Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, you'll be happy here again...

In the original RUSH HOUR, Jackie Chan played solemn, dutiful Hong Kong police investigator Lee working a kidnapping case in Los Angeles with maverick LAPD cop James Carter, portrayed by Chris Tucker. Culture clash abounded, with Carter's initial disdain for Lee's good manners and poor English giving way to admiration for the Chinese detective's astounding physical skills, and Lee's horror at Carter's tactics eventually becoming affection for the other man's loyalty and dedication.

RUSH HOUR 2 reverses the formula slightly by setting most of the film on Lee's turf. Carter is now the fish out of water, with Lee playing a bit fast and loose with what Carter thinks is a Hong Kong vacation. Lee cannot stop working, so that every apparently recreational activity he suggests a stop at a nightclub, a visit to a massage parlor is actually a means of checking up on the doings of gangster Ricky Tan (John Lone). Then bombings at the U.S. Embassy in Hong Kong and Lee's police station put the two detectives on a case that involves Tan and an American businessman (Alan King). The trail leads to L.A. and Las Vegas.

It is, quite simply, hard to go wrong with a movie starring Chan. The worst that will happen is that parts of the story will beg credulity and there won't be enough of the leading actor. Both of these are legitimate complaints to lodge against RUSH HOUR 2. The script by Jeff Nathanson tries so hard to be funny at the outset that character logic is violated. Would the cautious Lee really bring along the flamboyant Carter on a surveillance expedition without even informing the American of the need for secrecy? Additionally, the effort to create humorous vignettes makes it feel like the movie is vamping for time until the plot gets underway. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that RUSH HOUR 2 seems less sure of itself in making jokes about a clueless American in China than its predecessor was in cracking wise about Lee's misunderstandings with L.A. locals.

However, Chan is the epitome of warmth and charm, and his chemistry with Tucker is largely delightful. Moreover, once the plot and people are in motion, all is forgiven. As soon as the script finds its direction, it becomes much more confident, brisk and genuinely amusing. The fights may not be up to the standards of Chan's Hong Kong features, but they're fists and flying feet above most of the brawls and shoot-'em-ups that punctuate many more ambitious action-comedies. Director Brett Ratner gets into the sheer insane exhilaration of things like a multi-opponent punch-and-kick-fest that weaves in and out of bamboo building scaffolding, another melee that sees Lee and Carter duking it out with an army of baddies, and some wonderful slide work involving a teller's window.

For added cool martial arts points, RUSH HOUR 2 features Zhang Ziyi (of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON fame) as an adorable, deadly villainess who keeps turning Carter to mush (in both the emotional and stomped-flat senses of the word). The filmmakers also do very well in handling a flirtation between the normally reserved Lee and a stunning U.S. government agent, played by Roselyn Sanchez with wry grace. Ratner has also enlisted some expert supporting actors like Jeremy Piven and Saul Rubinek for impactful one-scene appearances, and gets a great unbilled cameo from Don Cheadle, who makes a fabulous contribution to the outtake reel that hilariously graces the end credits.

Bottom line RUSH HOUR 2 is not as good as it could have been, but for viewers who like to see Chan teamed with American co-stars, it's still plenty of energetic fun.