CRITIC'S CORNER
Chan stale in 'Rush Hour 3'
CRITIC'S CORNER By DNA Smith

Jackie Chan, right, delivers an uninspired performance while Chris Tucker insults black culture in "Rush Hour 3."

"Rush Hour 3"
Running time: 90 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13

It saddens me to say this, but Jackie Chan needs to stop making action films. At age 53, the poor guy looks like he's in his 60s, and he no longer does the kinds of stunts that made him a worldwide star.

In his heydey, Chan was part Buster Keaton, part Evel Knievel -- a slapstick martialarts clown who did his own stunts -- stunts so dangerous that the outtakes of his films showing him getting his bones broken for the sake of his art were as riveting as the stunts themselves.

In "Rush Hour 3" Jackie really shows his age, looking tired and much older than his years. It's obvious his enthusiasm for the action genre has waned drastically.

The film suffers from this because the few fight scenes featuring Jackie are truly uninspired affairs, lacking the energy so evident in Chan's better work. Also glaringly obvious is the copious use of stuntmen and CGI where once there was only Jackie doing the action.

Chris Tucker doesn't bring much to the picture, either. His screeching, mugging and bugaboo eye-bulging are not only grating, but also offensive. The eye-bulging doubletakes are so Stepin Fetchit, the only way Tucker could've insulted 21st-century audiences more is if he'd performed his role in blackface and top hat.

There's not much to write home about where the script is concerned. The plot involves Chan and Tucker teaming up to find a list containing the names of 13 ranking Chinese gang bosses in order to protect the lives of a Chinese ambassador and his daughter.

The jokes are stale and sometimes racist, and the action setpieces -- especially the final battle atop the Eiffel Tower, are unoriginal. We've seen better this summer, and director Brett Ratner simply doesn't have the chops to deliver the kind of thrills we've grown accustomed to expect from action films these days.

Sure, "Rush Hour 3" will make a boodle, but that doesn't mean it's a good movie. If you must see it, wait for the rental. It's just not worth a trip to the theater. And while you're waiting for the DVD to come out, why not rent "Legend of Drunken Master 2" to remind you of how great Jackie Chan once was.

GRADE: D (c) 2007 King Features Synd., Inc.