Sunday, November 18, 2007

Rush Hour 3


Three years after the end of Rush Hour 2, Carter is no longer a detective, but a traffic cop on the streets of Los Angeles. Lee is now the bodyguard for his friend Ambassador Han, the former Consul from the first film. However, there is a rift between them as Lee is still upset at Carter about an incident in New York City where Carter shot (not fatally) Lee's then-girlfriend, Secret Service agent Isabella Molina (portrayed by Roselyn Sanchez in the second film), an event which led to their breakup.

During the World Criminal Court discussions, as the Ambassador addresses the importance to fight the Triad, he announces that he knows the identity of the Triad leadership known as the Shai Shen. Unfortunately, an assassination attempt on Han's life takes place and he gets shot, disrupting the conference. Lee traces and pursues the assassin and eventually corners him, discovering that the assassin is his godbrother, Kenji. When Lee hesitates to shoot Kenji, Carter shows up driving towards the two but Kenji manages to escape.

In the hospital, Lee learns that the bullet had missed Han's heart and that he will make a full recovery. Han's daughter, Soo Yung (Zhang Jingchu), now grown up, arrives and makes Lee and Carter promise to capture the one behind the assassination in order to ensure her father's safety. She then informs Lee and Carter that her father gave her an envelope which contains important information regarding the Triad, and that the envelope is in her locker at the martial arts studio where she works. Lee and Carter make their way to the martial arts studio where they battle a giant, (Sun Ming Ming), but find out that a gang of armed men had already arrived and taken the contents from the locker. Lee and Carter realize that Soo Yung and Han are in danger and rush back to the hospital.

Once they reach the hospital, Lee and Carter notice that the security and staff have all disappeared. Yung explains that they had all been called away. At that moment, a gang of assassins arrive to kill Yung and Han. Lee and Carter manage to defeat them, with the help of Soo Yung, and interrogate the leader of the assassin squad. Much to Lee and Carter's surprise, the Asian assassin is speaking French. With the help of a resident nun (Dana Ivey) to translate, find out that they are marked for death by the Triad along with Soo Yung and Han. For her protection, they take her to the French Embassy and leave her under the care of Reynard, the French ambassador. When a car bomb detonates, nearly killing Reynard and Soo Yung, Lee and Carter decide to go to Paris to investigate.

In Paris, (after getting a painful cavity search from a Parisian commissioner, played by Polanski) Lee and Carter meet up with George, a taxi driver. George refuses to drive Carter, saying that Americans make him sick. However, George must get away in a high-speed chase to get away from the Triads, and Carter gives him inspiration by telling him to believe he is a superspy, to which George responds well and performs driving maneuvers which get the chasers off their tail. Then the two attempt to investigate a Triad hideout disguised as a club. As Lee fights off a Triad assassin named Jasmine (Youki Kudoh), Carter meets a beautiful woman named Genevieve (Noémie Lenoir) and is immediately smitten. However, Lee and Carter are both forced out of the club and after a harrowing car chase, are captured by the Triads. They manage to escape the Triads by leaping into the city sewers. Lee and Carter then have a falling out concerning Lee's relationship with Kenji and Carter storms out, intending to meet Genevieve again. Later Reynard approaches Lee and tells him that Han received his information from an informant, who knows where the list detailing the Triad leadership is. The informant turns out to be Genevieve and both Lee and Carter end up looking for her.

After the two have encountered Genevieve they save her from an assassination attempt by the Triads and flee to their hotel room. However, they are attacked again by Jasmine and decide to hide out with George, who now believes he is a real spy and now has a great appreciation for the United States. They then learn that Genevieve doesn't just know where the list is, she is the list. The names of the thirteen Triad leaders are tattooed on the back of her head and that she will be decapitated and buried if the Triads get her. When Lee and Carter bring Genevieve to Reynard, he reveals that he has been working with the Triads all along. Kenji calls and informs Lee that he has captured Soo Yung and that he would like to exchange Soo Yung for Genevieve.

Lee arrives at the exchange point, the Eiffel Tower, with Carter, disguised as Genevieve. Kenji then challenges Lee to a sword duel and as the two are fighting, Carter breaks his cover and joins in on the fight. During the fight, Lee and Kenji fall off the tower and get caught in a safety net. Unfortunately, Kenji's sword cuts the safety net open and it collapses, leaving both men hanging on for dear life. Lee then grabs Kenji's arm, intending to save his life. Kenji tells Lee that if he holds on, both of them will die, but Lee is confident that he can still save him. Kenji then willingly lets go of Lee and falls to his death, saving Lee's life. Meanwhile, Carter single handedly defeats the rest of the Triad henchmen and saves Soo Yung. At the last minute, Jasmine returns and tries to kill him and Soo Yung, but she gets knocked halfway into a moving gear and is cut in half. As they send Soo Yung down the elevator, more Triads arrive. In order to escape, Lee and Carter use a French flag as a makeshift parachute and float to safety. Unfortunately, they are confronted by Reynard, who is holding Genevieve hostage. However, a gunshot is heard and Reynard walks to a nearby pond and falls in as he dies. George is the one who has shot Reynard in the back before he can harm anybody else. George then thanks Lee and Carter for teaching him how to be American. The police then arrive, with the commissioner from earlier claiming to have been helping (in reality trying to get undeserved credit). After giving the commissioner a team punch to the face, and with the case closed, Lee and Carter leave the scene dancing to War .

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