Chan, Tucker Keep Things Moving in Lively ‘Rush Hour’

“Rush Hour” effectively teams Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in a formulaic but funny action comedy that should please fans of both stars. Writers Jim Kouf and Ross Lamanna and director Brett Ratner nicely contrast Hong Kong’s martial arts legend and the young motor-mouth comedian in a thriller with wide audience appeal. This New Line Cinema presentation is also good-looking, well-paced and makes fine use of Los Angeles locales, no small accomplishment given their familiarity.

When the little daughter (Julia Hsu) of China’s consul-general (Tzi Ma) for Los Angeles is kidnapped and held for ransom for $50 million, the consul appeals for help from ace Hong Kong policeman Lee (Chan), who was also his daughter’s beloved martial arts instructor. The two lead FBI agents (Rex Linn, Mark Rolston) assigned to the case are xenophobic, territorial snobs who think Lee could be of no possible help to their investigation.

They want Lee out of the way so badly that they get the LAPD chief (Philip Baker Hall) to assign a cop to do just that--in effect, becoming Lee’s baby sitter. The chief has no trouble making a selection: In picking Carter (Tucker), the loosest of loose cannons, he’ll get the wild and crazy guy out of his hair for the duration of the case.

Lee and Carter come from such different cultures--a source of broad humor in the film--that it takes them awhile to get into sync, but when they do you know very well they’ll leave the FBI at the gate when it comes to going after the kidnappers.

Ratner keeps the picture barreling ahead while showing off his stars to advantage. Chan humorously underplays to the hyper Tucker, leaving his fabled martial artistry to provide the razzle-dazzle, while Tucker allows us to see that Carter, for all his frenetic antics, is smarter and more focused than he initially appears.

Though “Rush Hour” is emphatically a genre piece, it still gives its stars a chance to break out into a couple of comic riffs; another one or two such interludes would not have been unwelcome. There’s a funny moment when Carter and Lee discover that both their fathers were cops and become like little boys, debating their fathers’ exploits, culminating with each declaring, “My dad can beat up your dad!” Even more amusing is a charming song-and-dance sequence set in Chinatown in which the stars meld their karate and hip-hop moves to the tune of the vintage Edwin Starr Motown hit “War.”

For a movie that otherwise works so well “Rush Hour” has an all-too-elliptical sequence set in Hong Kong on the final day of British rule. There’s an elaborate formal dinner in which it would appear that the consul-general and his British counterpart (“The Full Monty’s” Tom Wilkinson) are marking not only the changeover but celebrating the retrieval of a stolen fortune in Chinese antiquities; Lee played a key role in its recovery.

The treasure trove figures in the plot later on, as does Wilkinson’s character. Also a key in the film is “Lone Star’s” Elizabeth Pen~a as a sharp LAPD policewoman, amusingly deft at deflecting Carter’s pursuit of her, plus solid support from Chris Penn and Ken Leung, two of the bad guys.

* MPAA rating: PG-13, for sequences of action/violence and shootings, and for language. Times guidelines: The film’s violence and language quotient is standard for the genre.

‘Rush Hour’

Jackie Chan: Lee

Chris Tucker: Carter

Elizabeth Pen~a: Johnson

Chris Penn: Clive

A New Line Cinema. Director Brett Ratner. Producers Roger Birnbaum, Arthur Sarkissian and Jonathan Glickman. Executive producer Jay Stern. Screenplay by Jim Kouf and Ross Lamanna; from a story by Lamanna. Cinematographer Adam Greenberg. Editor Mark Helfrich. Costumes Sharen Davis. Music Lalo Schifrin. Production designer Robb Wilson King. Art director Thomas Fichter. Set designers Jeff Ozimek, Patte Strong. Set decorator Lance Lombardo. Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes.

* In general release throughout Southern California.