Rush Hour 2 Review

Rush Hour 2
A gang of deadly counterfeiters are causing havoc in Hong Kong, spoiling a nice vacation for local detective, Lee, and visiting American cop, Thomas Carter. The intrepid duo take the smugglers on, following them from HK to America, where things get complicated.

by William Thomas |
Published on
Release Date:

03 Aug 2001

Running Time:

90 minutes

Certificate:

15

Original Title:

Rush Hour 2

After the success of Rush Hour, this was commissioned faster than New Line could say 'cash cow'. And this certainly is second verse, same as the first (banter, fight, banter, fight), as our mismatched heroes - Chinese cop Chan, Yank cop Tucker - foil counterfeiters.

Taking in three locations - Hong Kong, LA, and Las Vegas - gives way to a slew of ever-so-slightly racist and sexist gags, replacing the original's sense of fun.

Tucker is less annoying than usual, but this is Chan's show. He really should be too old for this shit, but you can't help but admire the grace with which he takes on a small army armed with only a towel, and a wastebin.

Ratner squeezes in nice cameos from Jeremy Piven and - inexplicably - Don Cheadle, and villainess Zhang Ziyi kicks suitable arse. But really, any movie in which the outtakes are better than what goes before, is in trouble.

Hmm… yet another sequel sadly not up to the job of matching its predecessor, and when that predecessor is as uncomplicated as Rush Hour, things are not good. It'll still make millions though.
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