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Rush
Hour opened with a bang in the U.S in September of 1998, grossing
$33 million during it?s opening weekend and eventually earning more
than $250 million worldwide. The film provided a fresh spin on the
buddy film genre and captivated audiences with it?s high-octane
combination of breathless action sequences and outrageous comedy.
But what people most vividly responded to was the incredible on-screen
relationship between the film?s two stars: Jackie Chan, who Time
Magazine once called "the world?s most beloved movie star" and who
was at the time making his return to American films after a nearly
12-year absence, and Chris Tucker, the fast-rising young comic actor
who in 1997 had starred in the hit comedy, Money Talks.
"It
was really exciting," says director Brett Ratner, who had previously
directed Chris Tucker in Money Talks and considered himself a huge
fan of Jackie Chan. "People were thrilled to see these guys together."
While the director also ascribes the film?s success to the ?thriller-like?
tone, he believes "the Rush Hour phenomenon, what audiences most
responded to, was really about the chemistry between Chris and Jackie.
The two of them together is like an explosion in a bottle." Producer
Arthur Sarkissian concurs, saying that "audiences walked away from
Rush Hour saying ?Chris and Jackie are so great as a team.? They
got together and their on-screen relationship worked remarkably
well."
"Jackie
Chan and I were born to work together," exclaims Chris Tucker. "We?re
best buddies and we fight just alike. He tries to keep up with me,
but I?m a little bit quicker," Tucker kids. "He?s a great guy. We?re
like brothers only I?m black and he?s Chinese."
Chan
shares the same affection for Tucker?.well, sort of. "I don?t like
this guy and I don?t know why I have to make movies with him," Chan
says of Tucker with a smile. "All kidding aside, I love Chris. He
gives me a lot of his own clothes and I give him mine. I show him
Chinese tradition and he teaches me a lot of American rap songs.
He?s my buddy. We share a lot."
What
the martial arts master and comedic powerhouse continue to share
is their love of improvisation. "I?m excited, man! I?m working with
the biggest action star in the world," says Tucker. "Everyday, I
come to the set and say ?Jackie, I can?t wait. What are you going
to have me do today?? I have a lot of respect for Jackie and I don?t
want to let him down."
Chan
brings an immeasurable amount of experience to both Rush Hour films,
owing to his extensive background in Hong Kong cinema working as
an actor, director and stunt coordinator. "Having Jackie on the
film is like having that veteran player on a sports team," says
producer Jay Stern. "They show up on time, they know what they?re
doing and they always put their all into it. Plus he?s an amazing
physical comedian, the same way Keaton and Chaplin were. He does
things you don?t think a human being can do."
"Jackie
helps to choreograph a lot of the action," says Brett Ratner. "I
work with him just like I would with any action coordinator. Jackie?s
been making movies longer than I?ve been alive, so I learn so much
about the basics of stunt work and action from him. Typically you
would have each fight sequence mapped out and designed and then
you shoot a master and pick up the pieces. But here we design it
on the day piece by piece. I?m not going to tell Jackie how each
kick and punch should be thrown. I just tell him where the scene
starts and ends for the purpose of story telling. It?s a much longer
process," he says, "but the results are amazing. Jackie?s been giving
us all his best fight stuff for this movie."
In
contrast to Chan?s physical improvisation is Tucker?s verbal improv,
which originated from his experiences in stand-up comedy. "I think
because he?s such a good actor outside of comedy," says producer
Arthur Sarkissian, "Chris can really focus on making things funny.
He reminds me of Eddie Murphy twenty years ago. He?s got a lot of
charisma and he?s always working to make his character and the movie
better."
While
Tucker?s impromptu dialogue changes could be a daunting challenge
for Chan since English is a second language for him, in reality
it isn?t a problem. As Chan says, "Chris thinks about my character?s
dialogue too. ?You should not say this, because it?s not you, it?s
not Lee.? And I think about the fighting scenes. ?You should not
fight like this. It?s not Carter.? He helps me and I help him. I
show him action. He shows me dialogue. He thinks about me and that
makes me very comfortable."
But
since the original Rush Hour, Chan?s character, Inspector Lee, has
also learned a little more about the language and colloquialisms
of Tucker?s character Carter, which comes in handy for the sequel.
"Now," says producer Roger Birnbaum, "when Carter says he?s going
to kick his butt, Lee responds back with a much harsher insult that
he's earlier heard from Carter."
Finding
the right mix of action and comedy and balancing the unique personalities
of Chan and Tucker is the challenge of director Brett Ratner. "Brett
has two guys who are diametrically opposite in terms of their individual
working styles and he?s able to make them work as a coherent unit,"
says Jonathan Glickman. "He bridges the gap between these two people
and is able to communicate with them both at the same time. He?s
constantly coming up with ideas for fresh takes on these characters."
"One
of Brett?s many abilities," says executive producer Andrew Z. Davis,
"is that he can think about who people are and instinctively get
the best performance. He looks at Chris and Jackie and finds the
essence of Carter and Lee and helps them find it in themselves."
"Brett
is the best because he?s just like me," says Chris Tucker. "He?s
all about improv and spontaneity and trying to perfect whatever
it is. And forget about his energy! We thought he was on drugs at
first, but we came to find out he doesn?t do drugs. It was just
him. He?s just kind of crazy in the best sense," Tucker exclaims.
Jackie
Chan agrees with his co-star about Ratner and feels "he?s like a
big boy full of non-stop energy. Even when we give our all, he still
wants more, more, more! He always wants to do the best he can and
get the most out of us."
While
the producers, director and cast were all thrilled to be doing a
sequel, they each had very specific ideas about what they wanted
to do with Rush Hour 2. According to producer Jonathan Glickman,
both "Chris and Jackie came to the sequel with a real interest in
making a movie that was better than the first one, expanding on
the original and making the sequel it?s own picture. What?s great
about the sequel is that it?s a much broader canvas." Chris Tucker
concurs, saying that "we wanted to bring more fun, more action,
more of every thing to the sequel. I mean, Jackie?s doing stuff
that he?s never done in movies before. And I brought every thing
I could for this movie because I had so much fun doing the first
film and was so excited to be working with every one again. I hope
they expected the best because that?s what they?re going to get!"
It?s a sentiment echoed by Jackie Chan, who says "we know the audience
will expect more and want to give them the best that we can. There?s
got to be big action, big stunts, big comedy, everything big!"
The
sequel begins in Hong Kong with Detective Carter and Inspector Lee
fresh from a plane trip across the Pacific. Even before the first
film was released, the filmmakers had been thinking about a possible
sequel. "We wrote the last scene of the original hoping that we
would be making a sequel one day," says Brett Ratner. "So we got
them on a plane to Hong Kong to naturally lead us to another destination."
During research screenings of Rush Hour, producer Arthur Sarkissian
says that "everybody in the audience asked in the cards, ?well,
what happens when they go to Hong Kong?? That?s when we knew that
we had a good idea for a sequel because people were already asking
what?s next. But in contrast to Rush Hour where Jackie was a stranger
in Los Angeles," Sarkissian continues, "we felt Hong Kong was the
ideal setting to play Chris as the fish-out-of-water."
Brett
Ratner knew instinctively that beginning the sequel in Hong Kong
would work after remembering back to when he and Chris Tucker attended
a premiere of Rush Hour there in 1998 and observing the reactions
that Tucker received from the locals as he walked through their
streets. "We?d travel around Hong Kong," recalls Ratner, "and people
would just stare at Chris. In his own unique way, he?d try talking
to them and they just looked at him like he was crazy. It was the
funniest thing you?ve ever seen!"
Although
they spent a short time filming in Hong Kong on the first Rush Hour,
this time around the cast and filmmakers were determined to take
full advantage of all that the city had to offer. "The skyline is
just insane," exclaims Ratner, who is a great admirer of Hong Kong
cinema and counts Enter the Dragon, shot entirely on location in
the city, as one of his favorite films. "Every direction you shoot
is amazing. From the people to the background to the signage to
the faces?it?s just so incredibly interesting to shoot."
As
interesting as it can be, shooting on the streets of Hong Kong also
presents an enormous challenge. Different from Western filmmaking
practices, productions often proceed without permits, secured streets
or crowd control. While Jackie Chan, who is a national hero in his
homeland and who drew huge crowds of fans and onlookers during the
shoot, is accustomed to this, some things catch even him by surprise.
In one scene, the action called for Chan and Tucker to emerge from
their car after making an abrupt stop in the middle of the highway
and then run down the street naked. "It was embarrassing," Chan
says. "We?re naked on the freeway and I was almost hit by a truck.
The truck driver pulls up and said, ?Jackie Chan! Can I have your
autograph??" Brett Ratner recalls, "I?ve never seen him so anxious
to want to get a scene done on the first take. I think it was a
mixture of the environment and the danger of it?it was a very funny
moment, though."
Despite
the often wild times shooting in Hong Kong, Rush Hour 2 marks the
first time that the Chinese government has extended assistance to
a Western production, which included allowing the neon lights of
the skyscrapers which frame Victoria Harbor to remain on all night,
instead of shutting off at midnight as they normally would.
And
just as Lee leads Carter around his native Hong Kong, Jackie Chan
was able to show Chris Tucker around some of his favorite hangouts
during their time off from filming. Often the experience was eye-opening.
As Tucker relates, "Jackie tricked me a lot of times. One night
we were at a restaurant that Jackie loves and he had me try a special
soup. I didn?t know exactly what kind of soup it was, and finally
the waiter came up to me and asked if I was enjoying the soup, which
I said I was. He said ?frog spit soup is our favorite dish.? Jackie
and I got in a little fight over it, but someone broke it up. I
was eating some crazy stuff in Hong Kong, food that I don?t want
to admit that I ate!"
Tucker
was amazed to find out just how popular Jackie Chan really is in
Hong Kong. "Jackie is like the President of Hong Kong. Everybody
just loves him there, so it was an honor to be with him. Jackie
is like a Chinese Donald Trump. He?s got his hands in everything.
He?s even got his own shop, where I went to buy some clothes."
There
were other aspects of the Chinese culture that the filmmakers wanted
to explore. Practically indigenous to Hong Kong is the phenomenon
of karaoke. "We cut out a karaoke scene from Rush Hour and knew
we wanted to include a similar scene in the sequel," says producer
Roger Birnbaum. This time around Chris Tucker gets a chance to belt
out a dead-on version of Michael Jackson?s classic, "Don?t Stop
?Till You Get Enough," to an audience of stunned Chinese. "Karaoke
is very serious business in Hong Kong," says Birnbaum. "The notion
of an American loudmouth like Chris? character singing in this revered
environment was very funny." Following the several hours of spirited
singing and dancing it took to film the scene, a weary Tucker exclaimed,
"I have a whole new respect for singers!"
Just
as Hong Kong provided the perfect setting for the beginning of the
film, the filmmakers were equally certain that Las Vegas was the
ideal location to wrap things up, as well as provide the perfect
location to play out a money-laundering scheme that figures in the
plot. To avoid the burn-out factor that occurs with shooting on
"The Strip" because it is so often used as a location for films
and tv shows, the production created an extravagant casino set inside
the recently closed Desert Inn Hotel. Over a period of six weeks,
a team of artists and laborers, overseen by legendary production
designer Terence Marsh (who as an art director won two Academy Awards
and worked on such epics as Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago),
worked to create the opulent, Chinese palace-themed Red Dragon Hotel
and Casino, the centerpiece of which is the 20-foot statue of the
namesake, capable of spewing smoke and fire.
A momentous
occasion took place during the Las Vegas shoot when the mayor of
the city, Oscar Goodman, visited the set and proclaimed it Rush
Hour 2 day, issuing keys to the city to Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker
and Brett Ratner. As Tucker exclaimed, "Vegas is my town. Now that
I have the key to the city they have to let me in any place I go.
I wish Sammy Davis, Jr. were here to see this!"
In
addition to the fabulous locations (which were supplemented by several
weeks of studio and location filming in Los Angeles at the start
of production, which began in November of 2000), an important facet
of the sequel is the introduction of several new characters. It
is with the help of these characters that some light is shed on
the background and history of Jackie Chan?s character, Inspector
Lee. "We needed to up the stakes in this one," says director Ratner.
"And that wasn?t going to be easy considering that in Rush Hour
a little girl?s life was on the line. So," he says, "we raised the
emotional ante by creating a character that would explain Lee?s
motivation and also explain why Carter is who he is ? both had fathers
who were cops and were killed in the line of duty. Once Carter realizes
that Lee wants this case in order to basically protect his father?s
legacy and get to the bottom of what he went down for, he jumps
on board to help his friend. It brings heart to the story."
For
the character of the villianous Ricky Tan, who plays a dark role
in the past of Inspector Lee, Brett Ratner was quick to pursue veteran
actor John Lone, best known as the title character of Bernardo Bertolucci?s
1987 Academy Award-winning epic, The Last Emperor. "The believability
of the character of Ricky Tan as having had a long history with
Jackie?s character Lee required a brilliant actor," says Ratner.
"John Lone carries that weight. Not only is he able to deliver the
performance of an elegant and sophisticated, yet very dangerous
crime lord, but he also supplies a convincing warmth and love for
Lee. You totally believe their relationship goes back."
"There?s
something really unique that John Lone brings to every role he plays,"
says producer Arthur Sarkissian. "In this film, playing a criminal
is so much more than being just a bad guy. His mannerisms give the
role total credibility."
"Ricky
Tan is a businessman," says John Lone of his character. "His business
dealings aren?t what most people would call appropriate, but then
again, his hands are never dirty. Ricky Tan has other people execute
what needs to be done."
While
in Hong Kong scouting locations and holding casting sessions for
the role of Ricky Tan?s deadly underboss, Hu Li, Brett Ratner screened
an early cut of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Ratner was so taken
by the talent and striking beauty of Zhang Ziyi, the 21-year old
actress who played opposite Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh, he immediately
caught a flight to Beijing to meet with her to discuss making her
American film debut in Rush Hour 2.
Zhang
recalls her first meeting with the director: "He took one look at
me and said, ?oh my god!? I believe he was more excited than I was."
Startled by the youth of Ratner, she was equally surprised at the
speed with which their conversation progressed. "I never believed
that after ten minutes he?d be talking to me about the script. Until
then," says Zhang, "he?d never met me in person. He only knew me
as Jen Yu in Crouching Tiger, the person who could fly all over
the place." Still, she says, "it seemed as if there was some kind
of mutual agreement between us."
The
filmmakers were so enamored of Zhang, her role was expanded to encompass
a role that was first written for two characters. "She?s quite a
chameleon," says producer Arthur Sarkissian. "In contrast to her
sweet looks, Hu Li becomes this brutal hard ass ? it was a unique
way for us to portray a villain." The casting of Zhang Ziyi opposite
Jackie Chan marks a teaming of two generations of acrobatic marvels,
with Chan working closely with Zhang to help coordinate her fight
sequences. Zhang, who studied dance in China, proved more than up
to the task of working with the martial arts legend. "She only used
a stunt double twice during filming," marvelled Chan. "She really
wants to learn new things and is always saying ?I want to do it.?
I tell her to trust me and then she does the stunt. She?s so exciting
and a wonderful actress."
Puerto
Rico-born beauty Roselyn Sanchez plays the role of U.S. Secret Service
double agent Isabella Molina, who always leaves Lee and Carter guessing
as to which side she is working for. Sanchez was excited about landing
the role, which she says affords her the opportunity to "play a
tough woman, some one who is intelligent, smart and can kick some
ass. It?s been great fun."
In
a departure from the first film, the workaholic Detective Lee slowly
develops a romantic crush on agent Molina, which proves to be the
source of much comic tension between him and smooth-talking ladies
man Carter over who gets the girl. But there?s only so much time
for romance amidst the action and jokes, as Jackie Chan soon found
out. "When I heard about the Molina character, I told Brett Ratner
that she and Lee must have a kissing scene or a love scene," said
Chan. "Brett said, ?you wish?!"
Rounding
out the cast is legendary actor/comedian Alan King, who appears
in a key role as casino owner and entrepreneur (and partner to Ricky
Tan) Steven Reign. "I wanted a very Vegas-y type of guy for the
role," says Brett Ratner, "and Alan King is the perfect guy to own
a casino. I modeled him partly after a Steve Wynn and Donald Trump
type of character. You see the showman and entrepreneur side of
him very clearly. But you also see that inside, this guy is as tough
as nails."
Adding
to the fun are a few cameo roles played by well-known actors. "Brett
wants certain people in the movie because he has relationships with
them and knows what he can get out of them," says producer Arthur
Sarkissian. "What?s nice about having these guys in the film is
it lifts the energy of Chris and Jackie when they?re working with
actors of that caliber - actors who normally don?t do cameo roles."
Adding
to the fun are a few cameo roles played by well-known actors. "Brett
wants certain people in the movie because he has relationships with
them and knows what he can get out of them," says producer Arthur
Sarkissian. "What?s nice about having these guys in the film is
it lifts the energy of Chris and Jackie when they?re working with
actors of that caliber - actors who normally don?t do cameo roles."
Realizing
inevitable comparisons, the actors, producers and director were
determined that Rush Hour 2 would deliver even more of what audiences
loved in the first film. "It?s great to have the same team back
from Rush Hour," says producer Arthur Sarkissian. "It?s more of
what audiences liked in the original, only this time around it?s
bigger, better and funnier." "There?s much more action than there
was in the first film," Brett Ratner affirms. "And there?s just
as much comedy. Both films have this tremendous interplay between
Jackie and Chris," he continues. "I always say, you could film them
in front of a white wall and they?d still be great together."
"Fortunately,"
he adds, "we didn?t have to."
RUSH
HOUR 2
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