Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
My deepest apologies, folks. This past week has been one of the most amazing, exhausting, and exciting of my life, and I'm sure I speak for Harry as well. We've been up to our necks along with an astonishing group of people working on something that we hope will be around for a very long time, and tomorrow is the day when it all finally comes together. Almost five years of effort leads up to one 12 hour day and 22 final minutes. As a result, we haven't had a chance to post as much as we would have liked this week. Hell, Harry still hasn't even seen A.I. We'll be back on track this week (Holiday? What holiday?) and I'll have my John Sayles piece finally, a review of JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, and all sorts of other goodies including a review of STAR TREK 10, along with the announcement of who is directing the film.
In the meantime, here's a fun review of RUSH HOUR 2 for you to enjoy. See you on the other side of Monday...
I was at a screening of Rush Hour 2 tonight. Got back in time to log onto AICN chat, and lo and behold, Smilin' Jack Ruby was at the screening too. It's a small AICN world after all.
Rush Hour 2 comes in at a fast-paced 90 minutes, and as it ended, I felt as if I was getting off of a rollercoaster ride that I wanted to get on again. I'm soooo ready to see Rush Hour 3.
The story is simple: Jackie Chan is hunting down a smuggling plot within an Asian gang while Chris Tucker (oh, who cares what their character names are!?!) is trying to vacation in Hong Kong. They run into the baddies - Ziyi Zhang is muscle for kingpin John Lone. Our good cops find Secret Service agent - played so HOTLY by Roselyn Sanchez - is staking out an American businessman played by Alan King.
Just as the Secret Service tell the odd couple to drop the case, they follow the old rich white man to Los Angeles. There a few plot twists seem to occur. Finally, everyone makes their way to Las Vegas, where there's still a plot twist or two. And then, funny outtakes.
Brett Ratner, who directed the original, gives us a better film with Rush Hour 2. Writer Jeff Nathanson puts in more laughs and more action than the original. Some people are afraid that the post-Matrix, post-Crouching Tiger generation won't find Chan-style action cool anymore, but these fights and chases were wonderful. The ending sequence was particularly good, which reminded me of the several-almost-endings of scenes from Indiana Jones films.
Tucker and Chan have a chemistry that is undeniable and almost magical. 'Nuff said, except a quiet scene with a Puff Daddy song got us all laughing til our bellies hurt.
There are hot babes in this movie, but they're not your typical Pam Anderson, Hollywood busty babes. You'll see gangster karaoke bar babes, massage parlor babes - but Roselyn Sanchez surely stands out. My wife agrees that she is one damn fine looking woman, especially when mostly undressed. Someone scan those shots in, damnit!
Simply put: go see this movie with friends, laugh until it hurts, it deserves to do big box office. At the least, it is easily the best action comedy movie of the year so far.
Cheers,
Caller From L.A.
