The film begins with Chief Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) and Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) traveling to Hong Kong on a vacation. Carter is interested in having a good time; however, soon after they arrive, a bomb explodes in the American Embassy. Inspector Lee is assigned to the case, which becomes personal when it is discovered that the man behind it is Ricky Tan, his father's former partner. Tan, who played an instrumental role in his father's death, is now the leader of the Triads, the most deadly gang in all of China.
The United States Secret Service, led by Agent Sterling (Harris Yulin), and the Hong Kong Police Force soon get into a fight over the jurisdiction of the case. Lee learns that Ricky Tan will be attending a dinner party on his boat. When confronted, Tan claims that someone is trying to frame him. Tan's underling, Hu Li (Zhang), appears and shoots Tan, and he falls off the boat. In the chaos, Hu Li escapes, and Carter is ordered to be flown back to Los Angeles and Lee is ordered to stay away from the case until its resolvement. However, Lee and Carter return to Los Angeles together, seemingly motivated by their desire to bring justice for their respective father's deaths in the line of duty.
On the plane, Carter tells Lee that every case has a rich white man behind it, and that the man is Steven Reign, a Los Angeles hotel billionaire. Carter says that he saw Reign on Tan's boat and that his calm demeanor during the shooting was suspicious. They set up camp inside the Reign Towers, pointing out a sexy Secret Service agent named Isabella Molina (Roselyn Sanchez), who Carter met and tried to woo on Ricky Tan's yacht. After Lee watches Molina undress, and a few misunderstandings, Molina tells the two men that Tan is money laundering US$ 100 million dollars in "Superbills" (high grade counterfeit US$ 100 bills) and asks them to find the trail.
Lee and Carter pay a visit to Carter's old friend Kenny (Don Cheadle), who tells them that a customer recently came in to his establishment with a suspicious amount of hundred-dollar bills. Carter checks them out and confirms that they are Tan's counterfeits. They trace the money back to the Triads, who are waiting for them and knock the two cops unconscious. Then they depart for Las Vegas. Lee and Carter wake up inside one of the Triads' trucks and escape. After finding out where they are, they realize that Tan is laundering that $100 million at the Red Dragon Casino.
At the Red Dragon, Lee and Carter split up. Carter makes a big commotion and distracts the security forces while Lee, at Molina's request, attempts to infiltrate the back area to find Tan's engraving plates (which were used to make the counterfeit money). However, Hu Li captures Lee, places a small bomb in his mouth, and gags him. She then takes him up to the penthouse, where it is revealed that Ricky Tan faked his death and is still alive. After saying a few words, he departs, leaving Hu Li to do whatever she wants.
Molina then takes out a gun, reveals herself as a Secret Service agent and attempts to arrest Hu Li. In the ensuring fight, Hu Li kicks Lee out of a window and he falls out onto the casino floor. Molina and Hu Li then fight, and Molina sweeps the trigger (that triggers Lee's bomb) out onto the casino floor. Hu Li finally manages to gain the upper hand and shoots Molina in the arm before jumping out onto the casino floor. After a frantic search, Carter and Lee end up together. Carter starts pulling the tape off of Lee's mouth. Lee manages to spit the bomb out seconds before Hu Li finds the trigger and detonates it. Carter then fights Hu Li while Lee heads to the penthouse to prevent Tan from getting the plates.
In the penthouse, Reign opens the safe and takes the plates. After Reign announces he is cutting the deal short, Tan stabs Reign to death. Lee confronts Tan, taking Reign's gun. Carter appears, having triumphantly (and accidentally) knocked Hu Li out. After a tense standoff, Tan knocks the gun in Carter's direction as he fires the gun, which nearly kills Carter. In the ensuring chaos, Lee accidentally kicks Tan out the window, who falls to his death outside. Hu Li then enters, holding a bomb. Lee and Carter leap out of the window just as the bomb goes off, sliding on decoration wires with their jackets. The wires snap, and they swing into a sign for the casino. Their momentum swings them into the path of oncoming traffic. Through Lee's nimble skill and Carter's dumb luck, they narrowly escape being hit by two successive trucks.
The film ends at the airport. Sterling thanks Lee for his work in the case. Molina says she would like to tell Lee something, and proceeds to kiss him for a short time, an event witnessed from afar by Carter. All three are going their separate ways; Carter to Los Angeles, Molina to New York, and Lee to Hong Kong. After Isabella heads for her flight, Lee and Carter say one last goodbye. Lee then gives Carter, who at first graciously declines, his father's police badge, stating that he can finally "let it go." In return, Carter gives Lee $10,000 that he won from gambling at Caesars Palace. Lee is more critical in his refusal of the money, but Carter is able to persuade Lee to take the money. After Lee reveals that he has always wanted to go to Madison Square Garden and watch a New York Knicks basketball game, the two of them decide to take another vacation in the Big Apple, dancing their way into the end of the movie to Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".
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