movie forecast: rush hour 3

before my forecast, a [not so] brief tangent : if there's a movie that i know i want to see for certain, i try to avoid all of its trailers, commercials, interviews, basically anything that might provide clips and/or plot summary [although trailers and commercials are sometimes hard to avoid]. because when i watch that movie, i want to see and hear everything for the first time. i want to be surprised and learn at the movie's pace. which is why i still wonder what the purpose of movie reviews are. most reviews will rehash the basic plot summary, and sometimes will provide detailed descriptions of certain scenes as well as reveal key moments in the plot. like, a review might something like, 'be prepared for a twist at the end' or something to that effect. so then i'll expect a twist and wonder if i can predict it, which causes me to out-think the movie as i watch it. like, i will try to anticitpate the twist, but then i'll think maybe they want me to see that particular twist coming so they'll twist it in some other way. so i end up focusing too much what the twist will be rather than just enjoying the movie. so, oftentimes what ends up happening when i read a review before seeing the actual movie [when i used to read them], i feel cheated because i already had a sense of what was going to happen. which leads me to my next inquiry, which is why do people read them? i suppose people who do read them are curious if the movie will be good or not, but i see no reason that it has to come at such an expense. i know rottentomatoes provides a percentage score so that it doesn't give much away, but the biggest flaw i see in their system is that there's no safeguard against people who vote even though they haven't actually seen the film.

anyway, rather than writing reviews, my solution is to provide a forecast for movies before i see them. this may seem pointless, but i think i've been fairly successful [by 'successful' i mean 75% of the time] in judging movies before viewing them. and even though i might reveal some facts about the movie, it'll be minimal and minor. so basically, my forecasts will be based on anything that i might've seen [by accident of course], word of mouf, and generally my gut feeling. i know, it sounds capricious, but trust me.


anyway, this week's movie is rush hour 3. this film reunites jackie chan and chris tucker in a what will be a weak plot in a foreign country [this one is set in france] filled with great action sequences and humor that appeals to a mass audience [myself included]. sounds pretty formulaic, but what sets this franchise apart from other movies of its kind is the chemistry between the two stars. from the looks of things, jackie and chris seem to have fun together, and it translates well onto the screen. for instance, the inclusion of bloopers at the end of the previous two installments gave the feeling that they like working with each other. plus, i personally think the bloopers are the best part of both movies, even though they technically aren't part of the movie.

i really haven't heard much whether or not the movie is good or not, but judging solely on the trailers and commercials, it looks like it'll have the same positives as the other ones. along with the return of jackie chan and chris tucker to the cast is brett ratner, the director of the first two films. although he did an atrocious job with x-men: the last stand, he actually does good work with the rush hour movies. with all of these factors going for it, i can't see how anyone who likes the first two movies not liking this one [and if you haven't seen any of them, well, this isn't a bad place to start].

prognosis: 7/10