Rush Hour 2 (2001)
Rush Hour 2 is a 2001 American buddy action comedy film directed by Brett Ratner and written by Jeff Nathanson, based on the characters created by Ross LaManna. A sequel to Rush Hour, it is the second installment in the Rush Hour franchise and stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker reprising their roles from the first film. The story follows Chief Inspector Lee (Chan) and LAPD Detective James Carter (Tucker), who go to Hong Kong on vacation only to be thwarted by a murder case involving two U.S. customs agents after a bombing at the American embassy. Lee suspects that the crime is linked to the Triad crime lord Ricky Tan (Lone). Rush Hour 2 opened on August 3, 2001, to generally mixed reviews. The film was a commercial success, grossing $347.3 million worldwide making it the highest-grossing film in the franchise. It became the year’s 11th-highest-grossing film worldwide as well as the second-highest-grossing PG-13 film. A sequel, Rush Hour 3, was released on August 10, 2007.
Plot.
LAPD Detective James Carter is in Hong Kong on vacation visiting his friend, Hong Kong Police Force Chief Inspector Lee. His vacation is put on hold when a bomb at the US Consulate General kills two undercover US Customs agents. Lee is assigned to the case and discovers that his late father’s police partner, Ricky Tan, is somehow involved. Lee and Carter attempt to question Ricky, now a leader of the Triads, resulting in a brawl with his bodyguards. The U.S. Secret Service, led by Agent Sterling, and the Hong Kong Police Force fight over jurisdiction of the case. Lee’s office is bombed and Lee, unaware Carter has left the building, believes him dead. They cross paths at a party on Ricky’s yacht, where Ricky scolds his underling, Hu Li. Lee and Carter confront Ricky, who claims he is being framed by his enemies and asks for protection, but Hu Li shoots him and escapes. Sterling holds Lee responsible for Ricky’s death and orders him off the case. Carter is ordered back to LA, but convinces Lee to return to LA with him.
Carter assures Lee that every large criminal operation has a rich white man behind it; in this case, he believes that man is Steven Reign, a billionaire Los Angeles hotelier he saw acting suspiciously at Ricky Tan’s party. Staking out Reign Towers, they spot Isabella Molina, whom Carter met on Ricky’s yacht, receiving a delivery from Hu Li. Mistaking the package for another bomb, Lee and Carter try to intervene, but Molina reveals she is an undercover U.S. Secret Service agent, looking into Reign’s laundering of $100 million in superdollars.
Lee and Carter visit Kenny, an ex-con, now Carter’s informant who runs a gambling den in the back of his Chinese restaurant. He tells them about a customer with a suspicious amount of hundred-dollar bills, which Carter confirms are Reign’s counterfeits. They trace the money to a bank, where they are captured by Hu Li. Taken to Las Vegas in a Triad truck, Lee and Carter escape, realizing that Reign is laundering the $100 million through his new Red Dragon Casino.
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At the Red Dragon, Molina points Lee to the engraving plates used to print the counterfeit money, while Carter creates a distraction to help Lee sneak past security. Hu Li captures Lee, taping an explosive in his mouth before bringing him to Ricky, who is still alive. When Ricky departs, Molina tries to arrest Hu Li but is shot, and Lee removes the explosive before it detonates, evacuating the casino.
Carter fights Hu Li, accidentally taking her out with a spear, while Lee pursues Ricky. In the penthouse, Reign prepares to escape with the plates but Ricky fatally stabs him. Lee and Carter confront Ricky, who admits to killing Lee’s father. In the ensuing scuffle, Ricky falls to his death when Lee kicks him out of the window. Hu Li enters with a time bomb, forcing Lee and Carter to escape on a makeshift zip line as Hu Li dies in the explosion.
Filming, Fake-money controversy.
Filming took place between December 11, 2000 and April 30, 2001. The prop masters for the film created approximately $1 trillion dollars in fake money to be used as props in the film. The money was realistic enough that some of the film’s extras pocketed it and attempted to spend it illegally outside of the production, which led to said fake money being confiscated and destroyed by the United States Secret Service.
Release.
Before its August 3 release, Rush Hour 2 premiered on July 26, 2001, on-board the United Airlines Flight 1 from Los Angeles to Hong Kong renamed, “The Rush Hour Express”. The Hong Kong Board of Tourism teamed up with United Airlines and New Line Cinema in a campaign that offered both trailers for the movie for passengers on all domestic United flights during July and August reaching an expected three million people, as well as Hong Kong travel videos to inspire tourists to visit the country where the film was set.
Box office.
Rush Hour 2 earned $226.2 million in North America and an estimated $121.2 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $347.3 million (surpassing Rush Hour and Rush Hour 3’s worldwide box-office receipts). The film went at number one during its opening weekend, grossing $67.4 million at 3,118 locations. The film stayed in the Top 10 until October 11 (10 weeks total). It was 2001’s second-highest-grossing PG-13 film and the 11th highest-grossing film worldwide. Rush Hour 2 surpassed the 1984 film The Karate Kid as the highest-grossing martial arts action film, and was ranked as the second-highest-grossing buddy comedy film behind the 1997 film Men in Black. The film was also ranked as the third-highest-grossing second installments in live action comedy film franchises (behind the 2004 film Meet the Fockers and the 2011 film The Hangover Part II).
Home media, Reception.
n the United Kingdom, it was watched by 3.4 million viewers on television during the first half of 2005, making it the fifth most-watched film on Channel 4 during that period. Reviews for Rush Hour 2 were mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 52% based on 128 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The website’s critical consensus states that the film “doesn’t feel as fresh or funny as the first, and the stunts lack some of the intricacy normally seen in Chan’s films.” On Metacritic, the film has a score of 48 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating “mixed or average reviews.” Audiences polled by CinemaScore during Rush Hour 2’s opening weekend gave the film an average grade of A on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert gave it one and half stars out of a possible four and called Chris Tucker “an anchor around the ankles of the humor”. Conversely, Robert Koehler of Variety called it a “superior sequel” and “the very model of the limber, transnational Hollywood action comedy”.RELATED:
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Awards,Sequel.
Rush Hour 2 earned a total of 27 award nominations and 10 wins, including an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight, a Teen Choice Award for Film-Choice Actor, Comedy, and 3 Kids’ Choice Awards; Favorite Movie Actor for Tucker, Favorite Male Butt Kicker for Chan, and Favorite Movie. Because of various issues during development hell and production, Rush Hour 3 was not released until August 10, 2007—six years after Rush Hour 2. Rush Hour 3 did not receive the critical and commercial acclaim of its predecessors.Cast:
- Jackie Chan as Chief Inspector Lee of the HKPF.
- Chris Tucker as LAPD Detective James Carter
- John Lone as Ricky Tan
- Zhang Ziyi as Hu Li,
- Roselyn Sánchez as Agent Isabella Molina
- Alan King as Steven Reign
- Harris Yulin as Special Agent-In-Charge Sterling
- Kenneth Tsang as Captain Chin
- Don Cheadle as Kenny
- Joel McKinnon Miller as Tex