Jackie Chan blames ‘too much money’ for critical mauling of ‘Rush Hour 3’
While reflecting on his long career, Jackie Chan has declared “too much money” was to blame for the lukewarm critical reception to ‘Rush Hour 3’.
Jackie Chan says “too much money” was to blame for the lukewarm critical reception to ‘Rush Hour 3’.
The 71-year-old actor made the admission as he reflected on his career ahead of the release of ‘Karate Kid: Legends’, in which he reprises his role from the 2010 remake of ‘The Karate Kid’.
Asked to rank the three films in the Rush Hour trilogy – in which he starred opposite 52-year-old comedian and actor Chris Tucker – Jackie initially hesitated before sharing his thoughts on why each performed the way the film did.
He then told BuzzFeed: “I don’t know. You know what, the first one: little money, little time.
“We shot it like, ‘Go, go, go, go!’ The second one: a lot of money, a lot of time.
“The third one: too much money, too much time.”
He added: “Too much money is no good.”
The first ‘Rush Hour’ film was a box office success and became one of the most popular releases of 1998.
It followed Chris as Los Angeles detective James Carter and Jackie as Hong Kong inspector Lee, who team up to investigate the kidnapping of a Chinese diplomat’s daughter.
The film received positive reviews from both audiences and critics, and helped cement the pair’s on-screen chemistry.
But its two sequels were less well received.
And ‘Rush Hour 3’, released in 2007, earned only a 17 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.
In the film, Jackie and Chris’s characters travel to Paris to confront organised crime, but critics noted a decline in originality and energy.
Despite the mixed reception to the later films, Jackie has expressed ongoing interest in continuing the franchise.
During an appearance at the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia in December 2022, he said he was “talking about part 4” with the series’ director, according to Deadline.
No further details have been confirmed.
In April 2019 Jackie’s management denied reports a fourth instalment was in active development, calling them “false information” in a statement on his official website.
