Rush Hour 3

This franchise is one of the most repugnant on the movie market. Chris Tucker, who hadn’t made a movie since Rush Hour 2 in 2001, got paid $25 million and 20 percent of the back-end gross to make this swill, and that’s criminal. Jackie Chan returns to get beat up a lot and put on his “oh shit!” face for the duration of the movie. The two play cops who travel to Paris and battle the evil Triad. It’s just a setup for dumb anti-French humor and Tucker’s sexist jokes. Torturous moments include a nightclub scene where Tucker and Chan break into song while rescuing a woman, and a confrontation with a giant in a karate studio. There’s also a final confrontation atop—you guessed it—the Eiffel Tower. Tucker has made me laugh in the past, but his Rush Hour shtick has grown tired. Chan can still amaze with his occasional stunts, but his comic acting is weak and one-note. As for director Brett Ratner, I’m just glad he lost his chance to direct the new Superman movies. He would have embarrassed the Man of Steel.