By Curt Schleier

“Am I Orson Welles? Obviously not. But 50 years from now, who knows how, as a person, I'll have grown?  I've already changed, from being a 26-year-old kid to a 38-year-old guy -- I'm not a man yet, really.  But as I get older, who knows how my experiences and my knowledge, this past 12 years making movies, how that's all going to affect the movies that I make?  I know that the life I lived from 16 to 26 allowed me to make a movie like RUSH HOUR, so now let's see...”

Assuming it isn’t all B.S., that recent quote from director Brett Ratner indicates both a surprising level of maturity and a lack of pretension.  Here’s a guy who clearly understands the kinds of films he’s made and for better or worse their qualities. 

The irony is that as that quality of his Big Films has deteriorated, the box office has increased.  The original RUSH HOUR was a surprise hit and helped establish Ratner as a young director with special flair for action movies.  RUSH HOUR 2 was just okay but made even more money than its progenitor.  X-MEN, THE LAST STAND was fine made even more than that.

What I don’t understand is how the clearly intelligent guy who said those words and has already made more money than most people can spend in a life time can make something as silly as RUSH HOUR 3. Unless he figures that a movie this bad will generate every last dollar in the universe.


It is less a coherent film than a series of sketches tied together to somehow give Carter (Chris Tucker) an opportunity to be funny and Lee (Jackie Chan) an opportunity to do his martial arts thing.  Under normal circumstances, this might work, but Carter’s jokes seem tired and so does Chan, who doesn’t seem to be able to kick the way he once did.

And the plot makes no sense.  At an international meeting, the name of the shy-shee is about to be revealed when gun shots ring out.  The shy-shee (and please don’t hold me to that spelling) has something to with the Triads, which is like the Mafia except no one is fat like Bobby Bacala and Big Pussy and they can all do Kung Fu fighting.

I’m not sure what the question is, but the answer is in Paris.  Lee’s brother Kenji (Hiroyuki Sanada) is involved.  The two are not blood brothers, but became very close in the orphanage where they were raised.  In adulthood, however, they’ve chosen different paths.  Kenji is a Triad while Lee is a cop.  Kenji would willingly kill his brother; Lee lets Kenji go, perhaps because if he killed him when he first captured him about five minutes into the film, the movie would be far too short and people would ask for their money back.  Who knows?
.
There’s also another crook.  I’m not going to tell you who it is, though if I did it still wouldn’t be more obvious than Ratner makes it.


On the plus side, I must admit that there is one really good fight scene on the Eiffel Tower, where it seems both Kenji and Lee are doomed.  It is amazing that actors (or even stunt doubles if that’s who it was) would put their lives at risk for a film.

Oops.  The making of DVD special feature gives it all away.  Turns out they weren’t really on the Eiffel Tower.

I have no idea why directors insist in taking us behind the scenes.  I don’t want to be behind the scenes.  I really want to believe the magic.  If it’s all computer generated, then what do I need Ratner for.  I can have Bill Gates or Steve Jobs create my movies.

What do you guts think?  Does going behind the scenes ruin or enhance the experience for you?