Rush Hour 2

Forget plot, characterization and direction. "Rush Hour 2" exists and enthralls because its two leading men are among the funniest comedians in the world today. On the one hand, you have Chris Tucker, a man whose body is almost as lithe as the words he speaks, which stretch out and snap and pile up on each other in ways both inimitable and irresistible. On the other hand, you have Jackie Chan, he of the razor-sharp timing on both punches and punchlines, a master of put-upon geniality and saying with his expressive face what he cannot say in his non-native English.

Put them together, and the chemistry causes a comedic chain reaction, in which each plays off the other's genius until the audience slumps in its seats, dazed from its own continual laughter. This comedic genius extends to their brawls with their various enemies, as well, in which young student Tucker teaches old comic-fighting master Chan a few awkward new tricks; Chan responds with stunts that Tucker can merely gawk at, producing more hilarity. That's why "Rush Hour" was awesome, and that's why its successor is awesome as well.

The plot is a trifle, something about counterfeit currency. The important thing is that it begins with our heroes on vacation in Hong Kong, which is where the last film ended. Detective James Carter, LAPD (Tucker) and Inspector Detective Lee (Chan) have a number of possibly misguided but extremely entertaining fights in a nightclub populated by gangsters and beautiful Chinese women, a massage parlor populated by gangsters and beautiful Chinese women, and a yacht populated by...well, you get the idea. The most notable thing here is that one of the beautiful Chinese women is Hu Li, who is played by Zhang Ziyi ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") and who is quite sadistic and adept at the martial arts in addition to her stunning beauty.

Having run out of gangsters to rough up and Chinese women for Carter to hit on, they get kicked out of Hong Kong for interfering in the investigation. They proceed, on "Carter's Rule of Investigation: Follow the rich white man," to Los Angeles, and eventually wind up in Las Vegas, which is always good territory for an action film to cover.

Ziyi is to this film as Jet Li was to "Lethal Weapon 4": a deadly Hong Kong import who is not asked to speak English because it would be unwise for everyone. Interestingly, perhaps due to the language barrier, she actually acts far better than this film requires her to; where she only needs to be haughty and dislikable, she's actually kind of scary, which isn't bad so much as it is odd. Fortunately, Tucker knows how to handle her. "I've been going easy on you so far 'cause you're a woman," he says before their climactic fight scene, "but now I'm going to treat you like a man. A very pretty man. A man I'd like to have dinner with."

Brett Ratner's direction is coherent and competent, and it fulfills its one overarching duty: stay out of the way of Chan and Tucker. There is a lot of hay made about the clash of cultures in this film, with both Carter and Lee making brave statements about the superiority of their respective races in various situations, and spectacles such as a soul-food Chinese restaurant on Crenshaw Boulevard. In a casino, we are also treated to an extremely funny rant by Tucker regarding racial profiling, gambling and about twenty other things; it ends in a dance, with Tucker amazingly controlled and gamboling from table to table with insouciant, stereotype-busting glee.

Honestly, however, this culture clash seems more to be a wellspring for funny things to say than an actual issue. These two men could never let a little thing like skin color get in the way of what they obviously know to be universal: telling jokes and punching suckers out. When they're at their very best, they even sound like a multi-culti Abbott and Costello, as when Lee unexpectedly meets Carter on the yacht:

"Someone died at the police station!" Lee tells the henchman with whom he is currently grappling.

"Who died?" Tucker asks, having just dropped in.

"You!" Lee gasps.

"Detective Yu?" Tucker exclaims, clearly disturbed.

"You!" Lee yells.

"Yu?"

"You!"

"Yu?"

"Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?" Chan asks in his imperfect English.

"Man, don't no one understand the words coming out of your mouth!" Tucker retorts.

It's a beautiful thing to watch, and there's enough of it in "Rush Hour 2" to make this film a must-see for any action comedy connoisseur.

ZHANG ZIYI THINKS SHE DOESN'T NEED LOVE

For now, anyway. From the 8/3 issue of "The Week," one of the many magazines whose trial subscriptions I have canceled:

Zhang Ziyi can't be bothered with men. "Now isn't the time for me to be falling in love. It's time for me to work hard," the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star tells Stephen Short and Susan Jakes in "Time Asia." [Everything in The Week is pulled from some other magazine, and they want $2 an issue? Funk dat. Anyway,] But when Ziyi, 22, is ready, her intended will be glad she waited. "When I love someone, they'll have total possession of my mind, my heart, my actions," she says. "Men's emotions and women's emotions are not similar. Women's love is relatively single-minded - when they love someone they throw every ounce of themselves into the relationship. Men are different. When they are in love they may also have other girlfriends." She has no shortage of suitors, her manager Ling Lucas tells Johnathan Durbin in "paper." "But she says no to everyone."

Look, Ms. Ziyi: If you're having trouble finding a real gentleman to give you real love in China, you need to take a plane trip and a short Metro ride to Silver Spring, Maryland. There you will find the man who can lift this burden of cynicism and doubt from your pretty little shoulders: Andrew Lindemann Malone. I will love you with all my mind and heart and any other body part(s) that should come in handy, forever and ever, or at least until Monica Bellucci backs her fine ass over here from Italy. Wait.

WHERE MY OLD-SCHOOL HIP HOP FANS AT?!?!

During the always-entertaining outtake reel that runs alongside the credits in "Rush Hour 2" (which includes Zhang Ziyi mishandling a weapon and smiling exuberantly at her mistake, to my relief) there is just a tiny hint of music playing, to keep things moving along. It's a nice little propulsive fragment of melody, over and over again. Only old-school hip-hop fans will recognize some gleeful irony in it, because the beat is taken from a classic joint by Eric B. and Rakim..."I Ain't No Joke." Indeed.

Various things about this review:

• The quotes are inaccurate, to some extent. But they convey an accurate spirit!
• There has been some talk lately, what with "Shanghai Knights" and all, that Jackie Chan did not like Chris Tucker as he does Owen Wilson, and that the "Rush Hour" films suffered for it. I don't know about the first, but why would it affect the second? They don't have to like each other; they just have to be amusing together, and Chan and Tucker are professional enough and naturally hilarious enough to do that. This movie is freaking hilarious and stuff explodes! I don't know what more you can want.

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