Rush Hour 3 is a 2007 martial arts/action-comedy film, and the third installment in the Rush Hour film series, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, that began with the 1998 film Rush Hour and continued with the first sequel Rush Hour 2 in 2001. The film was officially announced on May 7, 2006, and filming began on July 4, 2006. The film is set in Paris, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong. Rush Hour 3 was released on August 10, 2007, in USA.^[2] A fourth sequel is being considered by the creators.

Film director Roman Polanski co-stars as a French police official involved in Lee and Carter's (Chan and Tucker's characters) case. In her first appearance in an American film, Noémie Lenoir portrays Geneviève, a beautiful stage performer who is one of the main suspects in the case as well as Carter's love interest. Tzi Ma reprises his role as Ambassador Han, Lee's boss and friend who appeared in the first installment. Yvan Attal co-stars as George, a cab driver who becomes Lee and Carter's new sidekick.

Plot[link]

Carter (Tucker) is directing traffic. Concurrently, Chinese Ambassador Han addresses the importance of fighting the Triads at the World Criminal Court, announcing that he may know the whereabouts of Shy Shen, a semi-mythical individual of great importance to the Triads. Before announcing, an assassin shoots and Han takes a bullet in the shoulder, disrupting the conference. Detective Lee (Chan) pursues the shooter and corners him, discovering that the assassin is his Japanese foster brother Kenji (Sanada). When Lee hesitates to shoot Kenji, he makes his escape.

In the hospital, Lee learns that Han will make a full recovery. Han's daughter, Soo-Yung (Zhang), now grown up, arrives and makes Lee and Carter promise to capture the one behind the shooting. She then informs Lee and Carter that her father gave her an envelope which contains important information regarding the Triad, and that the envelope is in her locker at the martial arts studio where she teaches. Lee and Carter make their way to the studio, but find out that a gang of armed men have already arrived and emptied it. The duo are then told by the Master of the studio that Soo-Yung and Han are in danger, and rush back to the hospital.

Once the two reach the hospital, a gang of assassins arrive to kill Soo-Yung and Han. Lee and Carter manage to defeat them. They interrogate the leader of the assassins but find that he only speaks French. A nun, Sister Agnes (Dana Ivey), who can speak French, translates for them and Carter and Lee find out that they are marked for death by the Triad along with Soo-Yung and Han. For her protection, they take her to the French Embassy and leave her under the care of Reynard (Max von Sydow), the French ambassador and the chairman of the World Criminal Court. When a car bomb nearly kills Reynard and Soo-Yung the duo decides to go to Paris to investigate.

In Paris, after getting a painful cavity search from a Parisian commissioner (Roman Polanski), Lee and Carter meet up with George, a taxi driver (Yvan Attal), who is prejudiced against Americans. He drives them to a Triad hideout. Once there, Lee fights off a Triad assassin named Jasmine (Kudoh) while Carter meets a beautiful woman whose name is not disclosed (Lenoir). Lee and Carter escape and Reynard later tells Lee that Shy Shen is not a person, but a list of the Triad leaders and reveals that Han's informant knows where to find it. The informant turns out to be Geneviève, the woman Carter met at the gentlemen's club.

After the two locate Geneviève, they save her from an assassination attempt by the Triads and flee to their hotel room. Privately, Carter tries to interrogate Genviève but they find themselves falling in love with each other. They eventually start making love. However, they are attacked again by Jasmine who sneaks up behind Carter and Geneviève who are about to make love in bed. No longer safe at the hotel, they decide to hide out with George, who now has developed a great appreciation for the United States. Lee and Carter learn that Geneviève not only knows where the list is, but that she is the list. The names of the thirteen Triad leaders have been tattooed on the back of her head, as per tradition, and Geneviève explains that she will be decapitated and buried if the Triads capture her. When Lee and Carter bring Geneviève to Reynard, he accidentally reveals that he has been working with the Triads all along. Kenji calls and informs Lee that he has captured Soo-Yung and that he would like to exchange her for Geneviève.

Lee arrives at the exchange point, the Jules Verne Restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, with Carter disguised as Geneviève. Kenji challenges Lee to a sword fight, during which the two fall off the tower and get caught in a safety net. Kenji's sword cuts the safety net open and it collapses, leaving both men hanging on for dear life. Lee grabs Kenji's arm, intending to save his life. Kenji says his final goodbye to Lee and willingly lets go of him as he falls to his death, saving Lee's life. Lee then manages to climb up to safety. Meanwhile, Carter saves Soo-Yung and they defeat Jasmine who gets stuck between a large wheel and is split in half (off camera).

As Carter and Lee send Soo-Yung down the elevator to safety, they make their escape from the Triads by gliding down to safety with a large French flag. Unfortunately, they are confronted by Reynard, holding Geneviève hostage and threatening to kill her and frame them. However, George, having followed Lee and Carter, shoots Reynard from behind. The police arrive, with the commissioner gloating and trying to get undeserved credit. After giving the commissioner a team punch to the face, Lee and Carter leave the scene dancing to the song "War" by Edwin Starr.

Cast[link]

• Jackie Chan as Chief Inspector Lee
• Chris Tucker as Detective James Carter
• Hiroyuki Sanada as Kenji
• Yvan Attal as George
• Zhang Jingchu as Soo Yung
• Noémie Lenoir as Geneviève / Shy Shen
• Roman Polanski as Detective Commissaire Revi (uncredited)
• Youki Kudoh as Dragon Lady Jasmine
• Tzi Ma as Ambassador Solon Han
• Henry O as Master Yu
• Oanh Nguyen as Mi
• Max von Sydow as Varden Reynard
• Philip Baker Hall as Captain William Diel (uncredited)
• Dana Ivey as Sister Agnes
• Sun Mingming as Kung-Fu Giant
• M. Kentaro as French Assassin
• Mia Tyler as Marsha
• Sarah Shahi as Zoe (uncredited)
• Eric Naggar as Front Desk Man
• Julie Depardieu as George's Wife
• David Niven, Jr. as British Foreign Minister
• E. Chris Jones as Agent Jones (uncredited)
• Roselyn Sanchez as Secret Service Agent Isabella Molina (deleted scenes)

Release[link]

Box office[link]

Rush Hour 3 was produced on a budget estimated at $140 million.^[1]

It opened on August 10, 2007 and grossed $49,100,158 in its first three days.^[3] Rush Hour 3's total North American gross was $140,125,968, far below the box office take of Rush Hour 2 and slightly behind even the box office of the original.^[3] The gross was still strong, particularly considering the five-year gap between the second and third franchise installments. Noted Brandon Gray of boxofficemojo.com:

Rush Hour 3 grossed $255,045,928 worldwide.^[3]

Critical reception[link]

Unlike its predecessors, the film received mixed reviews from critics, primarily on the film's more crude humor. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 44 based on 32 reviews indicating "mixed or average reviews". 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."^[5] On Rotten Tomatoes the film had a score of 19% based on 157 reviews with a consensus of "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." 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."^[6] 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."^[7] James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four, and said the movie was dull, uninspired and redundant.^[8]

Distribution in China[link]

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. (The quota for imported films is 20 each year.)^[9]

Home media release[link]

The film was released on December 26, 2007,^[10] on DVD, VHS and Blu-ray Disc. As of March 30, 2008, the film has made $80.75 million in Home Video rentals, making it the top rental of 2007.^[11]

Sequel[link]

Because of the film's box-office success, director Brett Ratner and writer Jeff Nathanson are currently considering the production of a fourth film in the Rush Hour film series. In the DVD audio commentary for Rush Hour 3, Brett Ratner jokes that Rush Hour 4 could be released in 2012. 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.^[12]

In a recent interview with Vulture^{[clarification needed]}, 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 [Tucker], and Jackie [Chan] to come back." ^[13]

Soundtrack[link]

The original motion picture soundtrack for this movie was released on August 8, 2007 on CD and audio cassette from New Line Records and Columbia Records.

1. "Do Me, Baby" - Performed by Prince & Chris Tucker
2. "Less Than an Hour (Theme Song from Rush Hour 3)" - Performed by Nas & Cee-Lo Green
3. "War [Extended Version]" - Performed by Edwin Starr, Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker and Adrienne Bailon
4. "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" - Performed by Jackie Wilson
5. "Bonnie and Clyde" - Performed by Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot
6. "The Stoinked Quay (Original Score)" - Composed by Lalo Schifrin
7. "New Line Cinema Theme (Original Score)" - Composed by Lalo Schifrin
8. "Shaolin Fight" (Original Score) - Composed by Mark Mothersbaugh
9. "Adrienne Bailon!" (Original Score) - Composed and Conducted by Lalo Schifrin & Mark Mothersbaugh

See also[link]

• Jackie Chan filmography

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Rush Hour 3

• Official website
• Rush Hour 3 at the Internet Movie Database
• Rush Hour 3 at AllRovi
• Rush Hour 3 at Rotten Tomatoes
• Rush Hour 3 at Metacritic
• Rush Hour 3 at Box Office Mojo
• Rush Hour 3 on Myspace
• Review At Famoso Magazine