Sigh! The cash hungry head honchos at the Hollywood studios just won't give up until they have wrung the last drop of the sequel lemon dry. Rush Hour 3 is a meaningless re-examination of the action/comedy franchise that has already rushed past its final hour.

This time, Chief Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan [Images]) is playing noble watchman to Chinaman, a diplomat who is visiting the alluring streets of Los Angeles. We are informed that if this man spills the beans, he will be in a soup, which is not to say the hot and sour kind but the cold and dead variety.

And sure enough, he's shot dead. Lee, brings back his former partner, Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) to indulge in high speed comedy stunts weaved cleverly within homoerotic undertones while promising the consul's daughter, Soo Yung (Zhang Jingchu), that he will find the assassin.

The assassin is Kenji (Hiroyuki Sanada), and like a stale Hindi drama, Lee's childhood 'brother'. Face to face with Kenji, Lee lets the emotional brotherhood get the better of him and he escapes.

Soon, our heroes figure out that the Triads -- a Chinese version of the Sopranos family -- are responsible for the diplomatic kill, and operate from the colourful confines of Paris.

Lots of homoerotic lines like, 'You are my brother, I love you' fill the Parisian air as the action Jacksons set foot to pursue Kenji.

In this task, the two are not alone. They are aided by an anti-American cab driver named George (Yvan Attal), who discovers that he enjoys shooting bullets and piloting cars. There is also a sadistic French police chief, Detective Revi (Roman Polanski) in this whole mix.

Lee and Carter soon come across a seductive and mystifying performer named Genevieve (French model Noemie Lenoir), and the fearless twosome figure that she may be the most delicious piece to the puzzle.

Amidst more assassination attempts, car chases, knife fights, and shootouts all over the place, the climax moves to a CGI interspersed Eiffel Tower [Images]. Obviously, even a two-year old can predict the ending.

Director Brett Ratner represents everything that's wrong with movies today. Even if we completely suspend disbelief there are many gaping holes in the plot, the easily predictable twists, and clich�d action-movie standards that are a basic insult to intelligence. The direction too is lethargic and languid.

Despite their obvious camaraderie, Jackie Chan has lost his sheen, stunt-wise and otherwise. Chris Tucker's comedy has long crossed its expiry date (although he was paid $20 million plus 20 percent share of gross profits from New Line)

On the whole, Rush Hour 3 is repetitive and unexciting.

Rediff Rating: