ChrisTucker Tagged Articles at Cinematical

While the three Rush Hour films were very popular at the box office, they ultimately lacked a little something we'll call "good." The first wasn't bad, but the next two felt like someone made a list of stereotypical black and Asian jokes, threw in a few fancy martial arts moves, borrowed a line or two from a previous installment , then topped it with a Polanski and sent it out to the masses. Well, the good news here is that it doesn't look like we'll be getting a Rush Hour 4 anytime soon. However, according to MTV Movies Blog, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker do want to reunite once again on the big screen ... though they're not saying what that potential film will be about. Let's take a guess: One black guy and one Asian guy meet up .... stuff happens .... hilarity ensues??? (Why am I so angry and bitter on Mondays?)

Chan told MTV, "We sat down and decided we want to do another movie. Not a Rush Hour -- something new ... I said yes, and after I shook [Tucker's] hand, I said: 'Look, we need a middleman. I don't want to shake hands, then I go back to Hong Kong and you stay here, I get busy and you get busy.' You have to have somebody in the middle to follow up, otherwise it will never happen." Chan went on to add, "We've just agreed to do it ... Now we're looking for the writer."

So what do you think about all this? Could Chan and Tucker team up on a movie that doesn't have the words 'Rush Hour' in the title ... and still succeed? What would this film be about? What would you want it to be about?

I know you have just been itching to see more Rush Hour 3 footage after Erik led us to a leaked teaser on YouTube that has Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan sitting in the back of the French taxicab singing Lady Marmalade. Now we've got a whole scene to direct your attention to -- and by George, it actually has a little action. And by little, I mean that both figuratively and literally. It's not a big action scene, although there are a few mini stunts, but a goofy scene that has Tucker and Chan facing the monstrously tall Chinese basketball player Sun Ming Ming.

And Sun is about all that the clip has going for it. I mean Jackie Chan is teeny already, but pit him against a man who is 7'9", and he seems like an ant. Beyond that, we've got Tucker skillfully emoting surprise and spastically trying to smack the giant while Sun holds his head away, like a kid. Oh yes, and there's a bunch of giggling young tykes around them. As for action, there's Chan doing an interesting escape from his jacket, and that's pretty much it. I know that Chan said Brett Ratner couldn't direct action, but I hope there's still more to it then a little coat fumbling and the two getting lightly flung through the air. Tucker asks his buddy: "How do you say surrender in Chinese?" and I wonder if someone should have thought of surrendering the idea before this was made.

Sort of like Boyz N The Hood played for laughs, Friday was one of the few drug comedies that really made me laugh. It had a warm, laid-back feel to it, some laugh-out-loud lines, and a hilarious supporting cast. It starred Ice Cube when he still had some fire in his eyes, and is notable for being one of the only times Chris Tucker was anything but grating onscreen (Jackie Brown would be another - love him in that movie). Tucker was so funny in Friday, and his chemistry with Cube so perfect, that it was a little surprising to learn he wouldn't be back for the sequel. According to IMDb, the motormouthed comedian became a born-again Christian after his role in Money Talks (that movie would have made me take a hard look at my life and career, too), and chose to do the more family-friendly Rush Hour series instead.

Now it seems he may be changing his tune, and might be open to returning to the role that made him famous. Over at AICN, there's a link to an interview with Ice Cube where Iceman discusses the possibility of Tucker's return for a fourth Friday film. Cube understands that the only way to make the series vibrant again would be the return of Tucker as Smokey, and is determined to get New Line to cough up Tucker's outrageous price tag. I thought Next Friday was pretty weak, and I didn't see Friday After Next because the titles were just getting too ridiculous. I might check out a fourth with Tucker, but I pity the fool who has to try to come up with a name for that one. Friday After Friday After Next? Three Fridays From Now? I Still Know What You Did Next Friday?

Still wondering why X-Men: The Last Stand sucked so much? It could be because Brett Ratner can't direct action scenes. You may already have come to that conclusion on your own, but now it has been confirmed by Jackie Chan, who is currently working with Ratner on Rush Hour 3. He was quoted by The Canadian Press as saying, "Even though Brett doesn't know much about directing action, he does notice details that help us improve the scene. I appreciate his attentiveness when we shoot action scenes and his feedback."

Of course, Chan's statement could be lost in translation, and I don't mean that the quote was translated from the Chinese. What the martial arts-trained actor probably meant is that Ratner doesn't know about choreographing action, especially the kind of playful fight sequences Chan is famous for. I figure most of the directors Chan has worked with have had difficulty directing Chan in these types of scenes and probably just let him do his thing, just as most directors couldn't direct Chaplin, Keaton or many of the other great silent comedians or great martial arts action stars -- at least, not when their main talents were being filmed.

I don't mean to defend Ratner, who I think is in fact awful at directing action scenes, as well as all other types of scenes for that matter. But Chan could not have meant to put down the talents of a filmmaker he's working with for a third time. Still, in the same article Chan is quoted as praising the directing talents of Ang Lee and Zhang Yimou, two directors he didn't expect would be so great at shooting action scenes but who, in his opinion, are. Since Chan has never worked with either of these filmmakers and since both employed choreographers for their fight scenes, it could be that Chan did literally mean what he said.

Chris Tucker was really freakin' hilarious in the original Friday. I sure think so, anyway. I open this piece with that admission because, well, that flick was the last time I ever actively enjoyed a Chris Tucker performance. His subsequent work (in The Fifth Element, Money Talks and both Rush Hour movies) left me irritated, unamused and suffering from a semi-large migraine. So when the guy turned down a $20 million paycheck for Rush Hour 3 (despite the fact that he hadn't worked since 2001's Rush Hour 2), I pretty much gave up on the Eddie Murphy clone and pointed my attentions elsewhere.

But when New Line ponied up a full $25 million for Tucker to star with Jackie Chan in Brett Ratner's second sequel, I knew I was in trouble. Chris Tucker was coming back, and I'd have no choice but to deal with the shrill-voiced shrieker. Now get this: According to The New York Post, Mr. Tucker has taken to (allegedly) locking himself in his trailer while demanding last-minute script changes. Yes, a man earning $25 million for a half-year's work is (allegedly) pouting in his trailer while screenwriter Jeff Nathanson churns out extra pages. As if something like Rush Hour 3 actually needs a screenplay. No offense to Mr. Nathanson (who also penned Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal and the underrated The Last Shot), but a flick like this doesn't even require a screenwriter -- just a few pre-planned action scenes and a big platform for Tucker to do his patented high-pitch squeal routine. Rush Hour 3 hits screens on August 10, and if it's anything like the first two.....I'll hate it.

As you may recall, after the disaster that was his mind-bendingly shrill performance in The Fifth Element (and, given how dreadful that movie was, it's quite an accomplishment to be its worst thing), Chris Tucker wisely decided to dedicate himself entirely to Jackie Chan, Brett Ratner, and their weirdly irresistible Rush Hour series. At least partially because he's so steadfastly selective, Tucker has somehow moved into a really, really elite pay bracket, and is set to earn more than $20 million for his appearance in Rush Hour 3.

Now, though, Tucker has decided to step out without Jackie or Brett: Foreign news outlets are reporting that he's going to star in Gangsta M.D., a remake of a massive Bollywood hit called Munnabhai M.B.B.S. According to The Guardian, Tucker's character is "a gangster who pretends to be a doctor whenever his parents turn up." Eventually, he experiences one of those only-in-the-movies changes of heart, and decides "to redeem himself by trying to become a doctor -- which he hopes will also prove [him] to the woman he loves and her father, a hospital superintendent." Yawn. I can see Tucker being hilarious with the whole pretending to be an MD thing, but the redemption bit would be hard for anyone to pull off without drowning completely in the sea of cheese.

I don't know if they promised him his own mint, or if the script is just THAT good, but I hope our Chris has thought this through -- I mean, isn't his value basically reliant on the fact that he's one of the few people who can actually say "Whatever. I really don't need this gig. Go get Martin Lawrence -- I dare you."? Once he stars acting again, he's  totally screwed.

More than six months ago, I rather gleefully reported that Rush Hour 3 was a go, with stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker secured (for huge, huge piles of money) for the sequel's sequel, along with director Brett Ratner. Back then, though, the deals had been signed but the movie had not yet be officially approved by New Line, something that had to be done this week, or not at all. By greenlighting the movie yesterday, the studio locked itself in to paying its three principals, whether the movie is made or not (mmm ... pay or play contracts).

Installment three is reportedly set in Paris, and will feature our lovable, mismatched duo facing off against a French triad branch (why they're going to France to fight Hong Kong gangsters is beyond me -- maybe it's easier to shoot "France" in Vancouver, or something). The movie, which is expected to cost "in the low nine-figures," is still targeting a release in mid-2007.

And now, your random fact of the day: The only movies Tucker has done in the last eight years? Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2. You gotta respect a guy who, after the horror of his own performance in The Fifth Element, has refused to futher humiliate himself for cash, at least when Jackie Chan isn't around.