If you read the piece I wrote on the PRINCE OF EGYPT article a few days back, you’ll remember I didn’t want to go see RUSH HOUR.
A brief reminder. I’m in California, I’m out here for the world premiere of RUSH HOUR, the director Brett Ratner loves the site and wanted me at the premiere. So I came. To be truthful, I haven’t seen MONEY TALKS his previous film, I’m not a fan of Charlie Sheen’s so I didn’t go see it, though I had good word on it.
I wasn’t in the mood for this film when I began writing the piece on PRINCE OF EGYPT. So I put on some soundtracks to get my mind as far away from P.O.E. as possible. Phantom of the Paradise and Six String Samurai had the sound to put me in the mood, so as I typed the P.O.E. piece, that’s what I was listening to.
Our driver arrived at the hotel and he drove us (Dad and I) to the premiere which was being held at Graumann’s Chinese Theater. (I’ll never call it Mann’s, it’s an issue with me.) The driver pulls us right up to the red carpet, this is actually a first for me... to be driven to the red carpet. The other three premieres I had to cab it, subway it and hitch a ride. As Dad and I set foot on the carpet we get the first bit of World Premiere coolness. On the carpet with us is Kane from KUNG FU. That’s right, David Carridine. Cool.
At the end of the red carpet is Sean Jordan from ZENtertain ment. He asks Dad and I to pose for a shot. That’s when the lady from Entertainment Weekly asks me some questions.
“What was the last video you rented?”
Throne of Blood by Akira Kurasawa.
“What was the last bit of fashion you acquired?”
I almost laughed at her, but then told her it was the Nancy and Sluggo tie I had on.
She then asked me, “What is the defining film moment for me thus far this year?”
Seeing the fifty minutes of PRINCE OF EGYPT in the DreamWorks screening room.
That’s when I left the red carpet and entered the theater. I hated that last question because it got my mind back on PRINCE OF EGYPT. So I looked about the theater lobby and tried to think of other things. Suddenly a New Line Publicist comes up. He shakes my hand and says he hopes I like the movie. Then Dad and I enter the mainly empty Chinese Theater and sit.
As I look around I remember that I have been here only once before. That was for THE FUGITIVE on opening day. What a great film experience that was. Wow. At this point Dad begins hounding on Chris Tucker... he doesn’t much like Chris, downright hated him in FIFTH ELEMENT.
Various Hollywood types chat with me, and the film begins about an hour late, but as I’ve come to learn from Hollywood Premieres... well they start an hour late and the crowd is mainly cynical industry types.
RUSH HOUR
I was surprised. I enjoyed it quite a bit, though I wished I had been seeing it a screening in Austin with a normal audience as they would have absolutely gone nuts for this film. The Line People will love this one.
Alright, now I need to classify some things about this film. First off it’s not the best movie Jackie Chan has ever made. For me... that’s DRUNKENMASTER II. Best Chris Tucker film? Yeah, probably. It’s more complete storywise than FIFTH ELEMENT, though I love a lot of that film.
It is the best film Jackie has made for the U.S.
This is an eighties buddy film. And in a lot of ways it’s quite surprising. First off the violence is much... harsher than I was expecting. Lots of people die in this one. Bad guys kill a lot of people.
You know how usually when Jackie Chan gets hit it looks like it hurts, but when he hits someone you don’t really feel it? Well in RUSH HOUR, you feel his hits. I don’t know what it was, maybe it was the editing, or maybe the sound effects. But there are some hits that Jackie makes that are just punishing.
How does Jackie’s action stand up. Well I liked it. It’s not like his other films where he’s the only reason to watch the screen though. Here, Chris Tucker is the other character, and he excells. Of course if you don’t like Chris and you LOVE Jackie... well this won’t be your film.
Though... I don’t know. Dad doesn’t like Chris Tucker and he liked the film, but then that’s Dad, he’s a bit weird sometimes.
Is there anything outstanding about the film?
Yeah, I love Lalo Schifrin’s score. COOOOOOOOOOL. It’s like a hip hop Enter the Dragon mix. I had heard rumors that there were factions in New Line that were opposed to the score, they were on crack, because this score is super-uber cool. For me, it adds that extra bit of coolness.
The fight scene at that place that you’ll know after you see the movie, well it’s real cool. When Jackie is spinning those two things around and hitting all those people....huh huh huh huh coool.
Favorite gag. The old man with the... ummmm... cigarette. Yeah. That’s what it is. That guy should be on T-Shirts. His answers and Tucker’s questions should be memorized by geeks. They are cool.
As for Brett Ratner. Well I liked the direction of the film. It felt like a really good updating of the eighties buddy cop film with a groovy ninties/seventies score. The most important thing is he didn’t pull an Antoine Fuqua. What do I mean by that? Well, in REPLACEMENT KILLERS, Antoine’s direction seemed to be in awe of Chow Yun Fat. Here... well, Brett plays Jackie like he’s an alien to the universe he’s in. So there is no..... OHMYGODIT’SJACKIECHAN shots, which completely dragged the hell out of Replacement Killers for me.
This isn’t a great film, but it is one helluva fun one. It’s a Friday night film that you take your buddies to. Like I said, I can’t wait to see this with a real audience. You see... the film played pretty good with the industry crowd, but I know for an absolute fact that if New Line’s advertising has worked and big full audiences go... well... they’ll love it. How do I know? Because I did, and really when ya get right down to it, I’m a fairly normal audience member, I just take up more of the seat than most.
Check it out, it’s pretty fun. And that’s what the film was trying for.
