Rush Hour 2 (2001)

Carter and Lee head to Hong Kong for vacation, but become embroiled in a counterfeit money scam.

Director:

Brett Ratner

Writers:

Ross LaManna (characters), Jeff Nathanson

Stars:

Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, John Lone

10 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jackie Chan	...	Chief Inspector Lee
Chris Tucker	...	Detective James Carter
John Lone	...	Ricky Tan
Ziyi Zhang	...	Hu Li (as Zhang Ziyi)
Roselyn Sanchez	...	Isabella Molina
Alan King	...	Steven Reign
Harris Yulin	...	Agent Sterling
Kenneth Tsang	...	Captain Chin
Lisa LoCicero	...	Receptionist
Mei Melançon	...	Girl in Car (as Meiling Melancon)
Maggie Q	...	Girl in Car
Patricia Chan	...	Club Hostess
Gelbert Coloma	...	Karaoke Singer
Lucy Lin	...	Heaven on Earth Hostess
Cindy Lu	...	Heaven on Earth Hostess #2

Storyline

It's vacation time for Det. James Carter and he finds himself alongside Det. Lee in Hong Kong wishing for more excitement. While Carter wants to party and meet the ladies, Lee is out to track down a Triad gang lord who may be responsible for killing two men at the American Embassy. Things get complicated as the pair stumble onto a counterfeiting plot by L.A. crime boss Steven Reign and Triad Ricky Tan, an ex-cop who played a mysterious part in the death of Det. Lee's father. Throw in a power struggle between Tan and the gorgeous but dangerous Hu Li and the boys are soon up to their necks in fist fights and life-threatening situations. A trip back to the U.S. may provide the answers about the bombing, the counterfeiting, and the true allegiance of sexy customs agent Isabella. Then again, it may turn up more excitement than Carter was looking for during his vacation.

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Plot Keywords:

hong kong | vacation | triad | gang | boat | 

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Taglines:

Get Ready For A Second Rush!

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for action violence, language and some sexual material

Details

Official Sites:

New Line

Country:

USA Hong Kong

Language:

English Mandarin Cantonese

Release Date:

3 August 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gas do daske 2

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,761,272 (Germany) (8 February 2002)

Gross:

$8,601,812 (Germany) (8 March 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Roger Birnbaum Productions, Salon Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the airport there is a guy waiting for a passenger named 'Freitag', named after the film's producer, James M. Freitag.

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Goofs

The truck's trailer leaves L.A. with polished aluminum wheels. By the time it gets to Las Vegas it has painted wheels.

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Quotes

James Carter: If you ain't gonna shoot him Kung-Fu his ass or somethin'.

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Crazy Credits

No chickens were harmed during the making of this film.

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Connections

Followed by Rush Hour 3 (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"
Written by Michael Jackson
Performed by Michael Jackson
Courtesy of Epic Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Formulaic but fun!

James Carter comes to Hong Kong for a holiday with Inspector Lee. However at the same time a bomber is striking key American targets. Carter and Lee get drawn into an investigation into a counterfeiting ring run by Ricky Tan and his new partner Hu Li. Before long their up to their necks in trouble again.

The story doesn't matter because basically it's this - Carter talks funny to somebody while Lee is distracted, it then all kicks off and Lee does lots of fancy moves, it then moves to a different location and the pattern repeats again. Essentially that's it - but it doesn't matter, it worked the first time and it works again here. The story is better than the first film's, although the twists don't work as well as they think they do.

The main improvement since the first movie is that there's more fighting action. In RH Jackie Chan's fighting was toned down to make room for Tucker's comedy. In RH2 Chan is allowed to have much more action and the addition of Zhang Ziyi ups the ante all the more. Tucker still gets to do his big-mouthed comedy and have plenty of banter between him and Chan, be sexual with girls and fight. It's not breaking new ground but it's quite fun.

Chan and Tucker are very good, mainly because they're having fun and comfortable with each other. Lone adds class and menace as Ricky Tan and Sanchez adds spice as the beautiful Isabella. The best addition is Zhang Ziyi - she doesn't have any character but she can certainly move! The cast also has very funny cameos from Don Cheadle and Jeremy Piven - adding laughs and class.

The only problem with the film is that it is so very formulaic and is just a simple crowd pleaser. Some of the banter is a few steps off racism (`I'll kick you back to Africa') and much of Tucker's ogling is borderline sexism. However it's all so very polished that you don't notice.

Overall it's a very entertaining blockbuster. The only problem is this - the funniest bits are the outtakes, shouldn't it have been in the film?!