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SUMMER HAS LEFT THE BUILDING
RUSH HOUR 3 (PG-13) & STARDUST (PG-13)
On the strength of some massive threequels, gi
ant transforming robots, a hilarious mistake, an
18-year-old cartoon, a cooking rat, and the Boy
Who Lived, Hollywood banked its biggest summer
box office of all time. Alas, summer has gone the
way of Elvis. Always one to rest on past achieve
ments, ready to pat its own back and light its
own celebratory cigar, Hollywood will quickly dry-
dock its blockbuster yacht after this weekend's
release of Rush Hour 3 and Stardust. The opening
numbers of Rush Hour 3, the tired, third teaming
of motor-mouth comedian-sometime actor Chris
Tucker and gracefully aging stunt spectacular
Jackie Chan were good—around S50 million—
but the weekend's other wide release, the quirky
romantic fantasy Stardust, doesn't necessarily
glimmer like a summer star should, though it
pulled in $9 million and landed in fourth place.
This weekend's more engaging, less conven
tional option, Stardust, stood no chance against
Chan's flying fists and Tucker's gifted gab. A
faux fairy tale adapted from the Neil Gaiman
bestseller by writer-director Matthew Vaughn
(the incredible Layer Cake), Stardust isn't quite
the neo-Princess Bride many wish it to be, but.
it's still a jaunty romp through the fantastical
world of Stormhold. While Stardust doth possess
a wonderfully romantic hero, Tristran Thorne '
(Charlie Cox), worthy of Westley and a pirate,
Captain Shakespeare (Robert De Niro), nowhere
near as dread as his reputation, the fun film
lacks the cynical pith of legendary screenwriter
William Goldman and the serendipitous casting.
Vaughn and co-writer Jane Goldman ably stream
line Tristran's quest for fallen star Yvaine (Claire
Danes), while expanding the young man's crusade
to save his true love from the evil witch Lamia
Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan
Rush Hour 3 is a pleasant enough diversion
that never achieves the giddy, odd-couple antics
of the first two installments. Having already
played the individual fish-out-of-water card with
Chief Inspector Lee's L.A. adventure in Rush Hour
and Detective James Carter's Hong Kong vacation
in Rush Hour 2, Rush Hour 3 places both police
men in the City of Lights, currently being terror
ized by the Chinese Triad. After being violated
at the airport by Roman Polanski, Carter (Tucker)
and Lee (Chan) team up with French stereotype
and cabdriver George (Yvan Attal), who hates
Americans for their violent tendencies, and a
beautiful showgirl, named Genevieve (Noemie
Lenoir), who could bring the entire Triad orga
nization to its knees. Tired and repetitive, Rush
Hour 3 remains an entertaining hour and a half
due to the concrete chemistry between the two
leads. Returning director Brett Ratner moves the
movie along steadily enough, but Rush Hour 3
is missing the action and the comedy that made
the first two flicks so surprisingly entertaining.
Off the big screen since 2001, Tucker tries too
hard early on; his jokes either miss entirely or
grate due to his shrill delivery (plus, he sings
an unnecessary three times). Besides an Abbott
and Costello-like "You, Me" routine, Rush Hour
3 doesn't get funny until sometime in Paris. The
lack of action does nothing to offset the comedic
deficiency. I realize Chan is 53 and incapable of
pulling off the derring-do of his prime. Still, Rush
Hour 3 could have benefited from a couple of
standout set-pieces. I might not be able to recall
a single stunt from Rush Hour 2, but that flick is
six years old; I'm already having trouble recalling
anything from last week's screening of Rush Hour
3. Nonetheless, as far as mindless activities go,
I'd rather sit through Rush Hour 3 than on the
Downtown Connector from five to seven every
weekday evening.
(Michelle Pfeiffer, relishing her second juicy role
of the summer). A rare improvement upon the
slim tome that inspired it (Gaiman's novel es
sentially ends at the film's midpoint showdown),
Stardust brims with the confidence of a story
well-told. Too bad unproven fantasy not first
found on the pages of a comic book or written
by an author bearing the surname Rowling or
Tolkien is a tough sell, meaning a self-referential
fantasy like Stardust needs its own shining star
to sell it. Despite fine performances from Cox,
Danes, Pfeiffer, Ricky Gervais (who received
fourth billing for a cameo), and the slew of brae-*
ing Brits that includes narrator Ian McKellan,
Peter O'Toole, Rupert Everett, Jason Flemyng, and
"Little Britain"'s David Walliams, Stardust lacks
the star power or the cohesive, suitable mar
keting campaign to connect with the audience
eagerly yet unwittingly awaiting this film. (The
Princess Bride didn't truly find its following until
VHS; it was only a modest box office success
when it was first released, grossing about twice
its teeny S15 million budget.)
Cinema is a numbers game, and Hollywood
knows that audiences are preoccupied with
school and football, not movies, throughout
the dog days of August and September. With
a few exceptions (next week's Superbad, David
Cronenberg's Eastern Promises, The Brave One
with Jodie Foster, Ang Lee's Lust, Caution and
The Kingdom), crap will rule the roost for the
next two months. If Rush Hour 3 and Stardust
are the last two official films of the summer of
2007, this satisfying season could have gone out
on worse. Jackie Chan's goofy visage is always
welcome, and eccentric, delightful fantasies like
Stardust are all too rare (after all, it's been 20
years since The Princess Bride).
Drew Wheeler
magic geap<§
of leapniog, inc.
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