Money Talks.

Review #1001: Money Talks.

Cast: 
Chris Tucker (Franklin Maurice Hatchett), Charlie Sheen (James Russell), Gerard Ismael (Raymond Villard), Heather Locklear (Grace Cipriani), Elise Neal (Paula), Michael Wright (Aaron), Paul Sorvino (Tony Cipriani), Larry Hankin (Roland), and Paul Gleason (Det. Bobby Pickett) Directed by Brett Ratner (#012 - X-Men: The Last Stand, #305 - Rush Hour, #306 - Rush Hour 2, #402 - Rush Hour 3)

Review: 
It is not so much that this movie is not good as it is that it is not worth giving extensive criticism to. Does one really need over 500 words to express how this is just a film I didn't care much for? In the four films that Ratner and Tucker have teamed up together for (with this being their first), I found only one of them (Rush Hour) to actually be satisfyingly entertaining enough, and that was because the duo of Tucker and Jackie Chan actually worked out quite well (the same can't be said for the sequels).

In this case, Tucker is paired with Sheen, who can be a decent actor when in a coherent comedy (and occasional drama), but they simply aren't an effective duo together. Sure, you could make the case that they aren't supposed to be like other buddy duos (after all, one is a reporter while the other is a hustler), but I never really found myself wanting to care about what goes on with these two. Tucker (and his shtick) is tolerable to a point, with some likely having more (or less) patience with him and his lines. He falls along the middle for me, but that's not really much of a compliment. He certainly is more interesting than Sheen, who doesn't really have much to do. The villain (Ismael) is fairly generic; the only other interesting supporting character is Sorvino, who seems right at home in this role somehow. Simply put, this is a movie without much fire in it. Why should I care about their attempt to get to sweeps week? Why should I care about the valuable diamonds? Or the random twist involving a minor character at the end? If you have read some of the reviews on this show, you know that I do not try to over-think things in a film or overtly go critical on a film, because what purpose does that serve to you? This is a movie that would likely be easy bait for someone wanting to get irritated while not striving for anything other than just being a piece of entertainment. It's not a movie to use as an example of lazy filmmaking nor is it something worth fawning nostalgic over (even after 20 years), but it's a film that is what it is. I can't say this is an awful movie, and I also can't say I blame someone if they like (or at least tolerate) the film. Take that for what it's worth.

Overall, I give it 5 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Rush Hour 3.

Review #402: Rush Hour 3.

Cast
Jackie Chan (Lee), Chris Tucker (James Carter), Hiroyuki Sanada (Kenji), Yvan Attal (George), Zhang Jingchu (Soo-Yung), Noémie Lenoir (Geneviève), Youki Kudoh (Jasmine), Tzi Ma (Solon Han), Max von Sydow (Varden Reynard) Directed by Brett Ratner (#012 - X-Men: The Last Stand, #305 - Rush Hour, #306 - Rush Hour 2)

Review
The first film had its flaws, but it had some enjoyability and wasn't too standard of a buddy cop film. The second had some moments of laughter, but substantially less than the first one with the directing making the film louder, weirder, and not as funny as the first film. The third? Mostly laughless, mostly pointless, but more importantly: mostly forgettable. Chan is a fine actor, but not even he can save the film. But not even Tucker is why the film flounders, by this point it's expected that he's...erm, vibrant. but the main problem with the film is that it either tries to hard to be funny or to be serious, and it flounders with both. It doesn't have much charm in terms of acting and the comedy feels awkward. Max von Sydow appears in this (for about 5 minutes), and his performance makes me wonder how he went from Flash Gordon to this, but even in Flash Gordon he had more screen time. This might be enjoyable for some, but for others it just isn't that funny or necessary.

Overall, I give it 4 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Rush Hour 2.

Review #306: Rush Hour 2.

Cast

Jackie Chan (Lee), Chris Tucker (James Carter), John Lone (Ricky Tan), Zhang Ziyi (Hu Li), Roselyn Sánchez (Isabella Molina), Alan King (Steven Reign), Harris Yulin (Sterling), and Kenneth Tsang (Captain Chin) Directed by Brett Ratner.

Review

Sometimes a sequel deviates from the original for either the right or the wrong reasons. But the question of this film is does this do anything good or bad to the original? Well...It is almost what I said earlier in the last review, it's a weight sale that tips over good or bad. Except this scale has tiny rocks tipping over the bad side. Chan does a good job once again. He may have not have as many impressive action stunts as in the first one, but he still shines in a film with...Chris Tucker. In a way, he actually gets worse, and with less usefulness, not a trace of usefulness. Actually, Inspector Lee could have the case alone and solve it all by himself with less trouble. There are some moments of laughter, but substantially less than the first one, and the directing is a bit worse considering its louder, weirder, and not as funny. You could call this pointless, love it or hate it, or what I like to call it: Eh.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Rush Hour.

Review #305: Rush Hour.

Cast
Jackie Chan (Lee), Chris Tucker (James Carter), Tom Wilkinson (Thomas Griffin), Tzi Ma (Solon Han), Ken Leung (Sang), Elizabeth Peña (Tania Johnson), Mark Rolston (Warren Russ), Rex Linn (Dan Whitney), and Chris Penn (Clive Cod) Directed by Brett Ratner (#012 - X-Men: The Last Stand)

Review
This is one of those films that could range from either action packed decency or annoying banter. This is like a weight scale, it tips for one side and tips for the other side. I do like Jackie Chan in this film, he gives off the appearance of "why is going on around me"...which makes a lot of sense actually. Aside from that...cameo in The Cannonball Run (#034), this is the first time reviewing something with him, and he does a good job. However their is a familiar actor who has presumably returned from slightly annoying me in The Fifth Element (#027) to getting a 9.1 on the grating scale, Chris Tucker. Now to be fair Tucker and Chan do make a good pair together (Somehow...), and there are some funny moments (Naming them takes a bit longer to remember though.) that almost forgive the fact of annoyances that do indeed happen. The plot is decent, not exactly great, but decent. The action and Chan's involvement in them is good, Chan clearly knows his way around doing fight scenes, which is admirable. While the film is not entirely (take your pick) without flaws, it does have some enjoyable moments to make a slighly more than standard film. Which would have a sequel. Oh dear?

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: X-Men: The Last Stand.

Review #012: X-Men: The Last Stand.

Cast
Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), Halle Berry (Storm), Ian McKellen (Magento), Patrick Stewart (Xavier), Famke Janssen (Jean Grey), Anna Paquin (Rouge), Kelsey Grammer (Beast), James Marsden (Cyclops), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), Shaun Ashmore (Iceman), Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde), and Vinnie Jones (Juggernaut) Directed by Brett Ratner (#305 - Rush Hour and #306 - Rush Hour 2)

Review
Well, the film is shorter then the second one, which gives it less time to make it's plots and points as the film seems a little rushed, though it seems to want to show more characters that end up appearing for a few seconds. The acting is fine, but Vinnie Jones stands out for the meme worthy performance, particularly: "I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!". It's so inane that it makes up for  The characters do great, except for some characters like Angel who are barely in at all, despite being on the cover of the DVD I have. The story is odd for the most part. It seems to come out of nowhere, while conflicting with Jean's arc, which probably would've been a much more interesting story to focus on exclusively.  Overall, the ending is kinda ambiguous, as the film leaves clues about a fourth film (the final scene, the scene after the end credits), though why hasn't there been one? It makes us want more, and that's the problem. It makes you wonder what could have been if they had got a better director for the job.

UPDATE: Thank you X-Men: Days of Future Past, for being a good installment, while also managing to erase a good portion of this film. Of course, that also means the other two films don't count either, but to hell with all of that, I stand by my rating for this film.

Overall, I give 6 out of 10 stars.