Rush Hour 3 (2007)

Directed by Brett Ratner. Starring Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan, Max von Sydow, Noémie Lenoir, Hiroyuki Sanada, Yvan Attal, Zhang Jingchu, Youki Kudoh, Roman Polanski, Tzi Ma, Dana Ivey. [PG-13]

Third time is definitely not the charm for these buddy cops. They’re barely even buddies as the film opens, having become estranged ever since some offscreen incident where Tucker shot Chan’s lady friend in the neck (not a typo). But they’re brought back together through contrived means and head off to Paris to uncover the plot behind an assassination attempt on Ambassador Ma. A pointless cash grab without any spark of creativity or ingenuity; although Tucker’s “Ugly American” schtick has been dialed back a bit this time, he hardly earns even a few chuckles, and Chan looks to have been replaced by stuntmen and CGI on several occasions (seeing as how he’s past fifty, it’s hard to blame him). Someone really oughta save an actor like Von Sydow from these kinds of uninspired c’mon-he’s-obviously-a-bad-guy roles (even his character’s name, Varden Reynard, smacks of duplicitous cunning). And, no, your eyes don’t deceive you—that is, indeed, Roman Polanski’s name in the cast list (but at least they don’t try to involve him in a rape joke…wait, scratch that). Philip Baker Hall appears briefly reprising his role from the first Rush Hour.

34/100