Rush Hour 3


Rush Hour 3 is a 2007 American action comedy film directed by Brett Ratner, written by Jeff Nathanson, and starring Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Max von Sydow, Hiroyuki Sanada, Noémie Lenoir, Yvan Attal and Youki Kudoh. It is the third installment in the Rush Hour series. Announced on May 7, 2006, filming began on July 4 on location in Paris and Los Angeles. Released on August 10, 2007, the film received mixed reviews from critics, and grossed $258 million worldwide against a $140 million budget.
After the commercial success of the first and second films in the franchise, Tucker received a salary of $25 million for his role in the film, as well as 20% of the film's profits.

Plot

Three years after the events of Rush Hour 2, Chinese Ambassador Solon Han, with Hong Kong Police Force Chief Inspector Lee as his bodyguard, addresses the importance of fighting the Triads at the World Criminal Court in Los Angeles. There, he starts to announce the whereabouts of Shy Shen, a semi-mythical individual of great importance to the Chinese mob, but an assassin snipes him, causing a panic. Lee corners the shooter, only to learn it is his childhood Japanese foster brother, Kenji. Lee hesitates, inadvertently allowing Kenji to escape just as LAPD Detective James Carter arrives after learning what happened over the police radio.
Despite Han surviving the assassination attempt, Lee and Carter promise his daughter Soo Yung to find the person responsible. Upon her insistence, the pair head to the local Kung Fu studio to retrieve an envelope Han left her, but learn from the studio master that the Triads took Soo Yung's belongings. Lee and Carter return to the hospital and intercept a gang of French-speaking assassins before they can kill Han. After defeating them, they interrogate one of them with the help of Sister Agnes, a French-speaking nun. For her protection, they take Soo Yung to the French Embassy and leave her with French ambassador and chairman of the World Criminal Court, Varden Reynard. When Reynard and Soo Yung are nearly killed by a car bomb, Lee and Carter head to Paris to investigate further.
After a painful encounter with Parisian Commissaire Revi, Lee and Carter meet anti-American taxi driver, George, and force him to drive them to a Triad hideout. While there, Carter meets stage performer Geneviève while Lee is tricked by mob assassin Jasmine, who claims to have information about Shy Shen, though Carter saves him from being killed. The pair try to escape, but are ultimately captured by Kenji's men. Kenji offers to let them live if they leave Paris, but Lee refuses and following a short struggle, he and Carter successfully escape. The duo recuperate at a hotel, where Lee reveals his relationship with Kenji and decides to continue alone. A disillusioned Carter leaves, but recomposes himself when he spots and follows Geneviève. Meanwhile, Reynard meets Lee and reveals that Shy Shen is not a person, but a list of Triad leaders and that Geneviève is Han's informant with access to the list.
After locating Geneviève and saving her from an assassination attempt, the two flee to their hotel. They are attacked by Jasmine, but George rescues them out of a newfound admiration for Americans. Geneviève reveals to Lee and Carter that the Triad leaders' names were tattooed on the back of her head and that she will be beheaded if the Triads capture her. When Lee and Carter bring Geneviève to Reynard, they discover he was working with the Triads the entire time. Kenji calls to inform Lee that he has captured Soo Yung and demands he turn over Geneviève.
Lee arrives at the Eiffel Tower to make the exchange, with Carter disguised as Geneviève. Kenji challenges Lee to a sword fight, during which the two fall into a safety net. After Kenji's sword cuts the net, Lee tries to save him, but Kenji lets go, falling to his death. Meanwhile, Carter saves Soo Yung and beats Jasmine, who is killed after getting stuck in an elevator wheel. After escaping the remaining Triad members, Carter and Lee are confronted by Reynard, who threatens to kill Geneviève and frame them. However, George shoots Reynard from behind, killing him. As the police arrive, Revi tries to take credit for Lee and Carter's work, but they knock him out and leave with a victory dance.

Cast

The film was not screened in Chinese theaters in 2007, to make way for a larger variety of foreign films for that year, according to a business representative.

Soundtrack

composed the soundtrack, interspersed with hip hop and R&B music. Two soundtrack albums were released. An album of the hip hop and R&B music used was released on August 8, 2007, on CD and audio cassette from New Line Records and Columbia Records. Another, containing Schifrin's original compositions for the film was released on the Varèse Sarabande label.

Reception

Box office

Rush Hour 3 opened on August 10, 2007, and grossed $49.1 million in its opening weekend. Box Office Mojo noted:
The film grossed $258 million worldwide.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 18% based on 157 reviews, with an average rating of 4.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Rush Hour 3 is a tired rehash of earlier films, and a change of scenery can't hide a lack of new ideas." Todd Gilchrist of IGN movies said, "A movie that not only depends on but demands you don't think in order to enjoy it." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 44 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.
Desson Thomson of The Washington Post, giving it three and a half stars out of five, said "at the risk of eternal damnation on the Internet, I admit to laughing at — even feeling momentarily touched by — Rush Hour 3." Christian Toto of The Washington Times said, "The Rush job should put the franchise down for good." Christopher Tookey of the Daily Mail said, "Infecting this third movie is an extra, deeply unpleasant level of racism that we haven't seen before in the series." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was slightly more positive giving the film two stars and saying, "...once you realize it's only going to be so good, you settle back and enjoy that modest degree of goodness, which is at least not badness, and besides, if you're watching Rush Hour 3, you obviously didn't have anything better to do, anyway." James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four, and said the movie was dull, uninspired and redundant.

Home media

The film was released on December 26, 2007, on DVD and Blu-ray. As of March 30, 2008, it made $80.75 million in Home Video rentals, making it the top rental of 2007. As of 2018, the film has grossed in American DVD sales.

Sequel

Because of the film's box office success, director Brett Ratner and writer Jeff Nathanson are considering the production of a fourth film in the Rush Hour series. In the DVD audio commentary for Rush Hour 3, Brett Ratner jokes that a Rush Hour 4 could be released in the future. Ratner and Nathanson are exploring many concepts, including the use of the motion capture technique for the possible sequel and various film projects with Chan and Tucker. It has been reported that the fourth film may be set in Moscow.
In May 2011, in an interview with Vulture, Ratner stated that the high cost of making a sequel is, "why another Rush Hour probably won’t get made, either: It'd be too much to pay me, Chris , and Jackie to come back." In an interview on May 12, 2012, with The Arizona Republic, Jackie Chan revealed that he was still planning on sequels to both Rush Hour and The Karate Kid.