![[box cover]](../../reviewimgs/r/rushhour2.jpg)
Rush Hour 2: infinifilm
Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker team up once again in the brain-candy extravaganza Rush Hour 2. Tucker reprises his role as Carter, the loud-mouthed, hip-swaying Los Angeles cop who lives to torment and annoy those around him, including his friend the humble-yet-ass-kicking Hong Kong policeman Chief Inspector Lee (Chan). What little plot there is begins in Hong Kong — where Carter is visiting Lee — and involves the investigation of the bombing of the American embassy. This leads the two cops on a wild goose chase from Hong Kong to L.A. and finally to Las Vegas as they attempt to track down a set of plates being used to make counterfeit American money. The usual suspects include the rogue ex-cop (John Lone), his sexy female sidekick (Zhang Ziyi), and a sexy female customs agent (Roselyn Sanchez). This shameless sequel, developed in order to cash in on the success of the first Rush Hour, jumps quickly from scene to scene in an to attempt to keep the audience from contemplating the completely implausible story line. The real point here, of course, is to showcase Chan in martial-arts action and Tucker in all of his bombastic motor-mouth splendor. Chan does pull off some amazing stunts — althought true fans might be disappointed in the shortness of the action scenes — but unfortunately Tucker ratchets up his brash tirades to the point of extreme aggravation (making one wonder why Chan doesn't apply some of those kicks to Tucker's mouth). All in all, the movie is probably what audiences would expect from a sequel of this type, and — if you don't look below the surface — it provides a mildly entertaining diversion and a few laughs. New Line's Rush Hour 2: infinifilm DVD presents a sharp anamorphic transfer (2.35:1) that makes the landscape shots of Hong Kong particularly beautiful, while audio is available in both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 . As an infinifilm release, the disc is loaded with 4-to-8 minute extras that can be accessed as they pop up during the film or can be viewed separately. These include a visual introduction to Hong Kong, vignettes on language and cultural issues, Jackie Chan's fame, choreographing kung fu fight sequences, costumes, and even director Brett Ratner's student film Lady Luck. All of these short pieces are really just one mindless featurette chopped into smaller mindless pieces. A tiresome feature-length audio commentary with Ratner and writer Jeff Nathanson mostly reiterates what is already continuously reiterated in the short features — everyone had a good time making this most mediocre of films. The disc also offers a "Fact Track" that can be run during the film, additional outtakes not shown at the end of the movie, trailers, cast and crew facts, a script-to-screen comparison, and links to the film's website. Lots of information but not much of a rush. Red keep-case.
—Kerry Fall
