Despite long layoff, ‘Rush Hour 3’ never slows down

Kam Williams

It’s almost unfair to their fans for Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan to take so much time off between making movies together. After a six-year hiatus, the dynamic duo finally returns with “Rush Hour 3” — and the good news is that it’s well worth the wait.

This madcap adventure measures up to its predecessors in every way, from the laugh-a-minute hijinks to the characters’ genuine chemistry to the carefully orchestrated fight sequences. And although Los Angeles Police Department Detective James Carter (Tucker) and Hong Kong Chief Inspector Lee (Chan) are just up to their typical tricks, there’s something comfortable about watching them in action again, even when you have a good idea what to expect.

This chapter in the pair’s story opens in L.A., where we find the motor-mouthed Carter demoted to directing street traffic while Lee is once more guarding Chinese Ambassador Han (Tzi Ma), as he did in the trilogy’s first installment. After an assassination attempt leaves Han seriously wounded, Lee promises the diplomat’s daughter Soo Yung (Jingchu Zhang), now fully grown, to track down the shooter.

The trail leads to a gang of Asian mobsters in Paris, and our heroes soon reunite and make their way to France to crack the case. The mismatched partners immediately resume their oil-and-water bickering, a winning study in contrasts in which the high-strung Carter’s constant trash-talking, womanizing and general incompetence are offset by Lee’s relatively low-key demeanor and suave savoir-fare.

A third stooge is added to the mix after Carter and Lee land in Europe, when George (Yvan Attal), an insolent cabbie with an attitude who can’t hide his contempt for American culture, becomes their regular driver. George’s presence not only infuses “Rush Hour 3” with some fresh energy, but also provides some of the film’s most memorable moments of comic relief.

As always, the brand of humor relies on simplistic stereotypes — Asians eating rice and speaking pidgin English, blacks acting foolish and being well-endowed, and now, the French smelling bad and being rude. Fortunately, in the hands of director Brett Ratner, the material never crosses the line to come off as mean-spirited, but remains the sort of good-natured ribbing unlikely to offend any ethnic group.

Despite the film’s wafer-thin plot, “Rush Hour 3” is compelling enough to keep you amused until the very end. This is a flick to be savored scene by scene, for this joke, for that car chase or for the grand finale — a death-defying leap off the Eiffel Tower. Don’t forget to stick around for the credits — you’ll be richly rewarded with a few minutes of equally entertaining outtakes. In sum, Tucker and Chan’s reunion proves to be the best buddy cop comedy since, well, “Rush Hour 2.”