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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_oe6oku2mus1qgsw73o2_r1_1280_67.png]]
2Somewhere in Hollywood, a group of executives [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and]] Creator/BrettRatner decided that Creator/JackieChan and Creator/ChrisTucker should make a movie together. The results were... actually quite good. The series centers on a pair of police detectives - one a Chinese police inspector, the other an LAPD detective - as they go on a series of misadventures often involving corrupt crime figures. The film incorporates elements of martial arts, and the buddy cop SubGenre.
3
4
5[[AC:''Film/{{Rush Hour|1998}}'' (1998)]]
6
7On the last night of British rulership in Hong Kong, Detective Inspector Lee (Chan), a close friend of Consul Han (Tzi Ma), confiscates stolen artifacts from Crime Lord Juntao. Six months later, Juntao abducts Consul Han's daughter Soo Yung (Julia Hsu) in Los Angeles. Lee flies in from Hong Kong to assist the FBI.
8
9The FBI requests help from the LAPD to "babysit" Lee - who gladly use the opportunity to get rid of Detective James Carter (Tucker).
10
11The first movie was a major success and became the 7th top-grossing film of 1998, with a gross of over $141 million at the U.S. box office ($269 million when adjusted for 2019 inflation). The combination of motor-mouthed Tucker with Chan's gravity defying stunts proved to be a winning combination, in no small part due to Chan's movies being mostly comedies anyway.
12
13
14[[AC:''Film/RushHour2'' (2001)]]
15
16Lee and Carter are in Hong Kong on vacation. Lee sees Ricky Tan (John Lone), the leader of a group of counterfeiters, and a woman named Hu Li (Creator/ZhangZiyi) in a nightclub. Lee and Carter attempt to bust them but are unsuccesful.
17
18But following some hunches, Lee and Carter fly back to Los Angeles, where they meet meet Secret Service Agent Isabella Molina (Creator/RoselynSanchez) who directs them on how to find the counterfeiters. Like the first movie, she was trying to get them out of her way, but Lee and Carter again find the right chain of evidence that takes them to UsefulNotes/LasVegas and the perfect money-laundering location.
19
20
21[[AC:''Film/RushHour3'' (2007)]]
22
23Inspector Lee and Detective Carter are back in action in Paris. After Ambassador Han is almost assassinated, they need to protect Genevieve (Noémie Lenoir), a French woman who has a list of the Triads' leaders. Lee also has personal struggles with a Chinese-Japanese criminal mastermind named Kenji (Creator/HiroyukiSanada), who is also Lee's long-lost blood brother.
24
25Their race will take them across the city, from the depths of the Paris underground to the breathtaking heights of the Eiffel Tower, as they fight to outrun the world's most deadly criminals and save the day. Of the three, this is the [[{{Sequelitis}} least well-received]].
26
27\
28
29The franchise was thought finished after the third movie especially since Tucker has moved away from urban comedies and Chan had appeared in less and less Hollywood films. However nine years since the last release, it was soon announced that the series will be rebooted into a [[Series/RushHour TV series]] with a new cast. It aired on CBS on March 31, 2016. [[ShortRunner And was cancelled on May 16, 2016]].
30
31In 2015, Chan said to media that production for ''Rush Hour 4'' is in progress. He confirmed it again in 2022.
32----
33!!The film series contains examples of:
34* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: In the third film. {{Justified|Trope}} as the film is set in Paris, where the sewers really are like that.
35* ActionGirl:
36** LAPD Officer Tania Johnson in the first film.
37** Downplayed with Isabella in the second film because she doesn't have much chance as Hu Li shot her in the shoulder.
38** Also Soo Yung who TookALevelInBadass in the third film. Unfortunately this is also downplayed in the end where she is kidnapped, bringing back her DamselInDistress status.
39* ActionSurvivor: In the first movie especially, Carter can throw a pretty good punch (and take one), but he's consistently outclassed in fisticuffs by skilled martial artists. He gets a little better in ''2'', but is obviously barely able to stay alive in his fight with Hu Li. He's progressively better in ''3'', but still no black belt. Good thing he's better with a gun.
40* ActorAllusion:
41** At one point in the first film, a couple of tourists ask Lee for directions to [[http://roscoeschickenandwaffles.com/ Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles]], a famous restaurant in LA. The restaurant was previously a plot point in ''Film/JackieBrown'', in which Chris Tucker's character is promised a free meal there [[spoiler:and then promptly murdered by Creator/SamuelLJackson]].
42** This is not the [[Film/DrunkenMaster first time]] Creator/JackieChan has had to stop [[spoiler:a corrupt [[EvilBrit British]] government official]] from stealing Chinese antiquities.
43** In ''3'', Lee tells Carter that [[Film/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays2004 he doesn't speak French]].
44* AllPartOfTheShow: In ''Rush Hour 3'', the Triads attempt to assassinate Genevieve in her cover as a headliner/musician, during one of her shows. When they open fire on the stage, both the gunplay and Carter and Lee's daring escape with her go applauded by the crowd, as it turns out Genevieve was putting on a mafia inspired performance that night. Even the Triad assassins themselves are confused that nobody is panicking.
45* AMFMCharacterization: Lee and Carter's music tastes (Beach Boys vs. Jay-Z) showcase how different and opposing they are early on, but eventually both bond over Edwin Starr's "War".
46** In ''Rush Hour 2'', Officer Carter starts to appreciate Music/TheBeachBoys, Lee's favorite band while Lee is shown appreciating a song by [[Music/SeanCombs P. Diddy]].
47* ArsonMurderAndLifesaving: The chief invokes this trope to make it seem like he's impressed with Carter. He's actually quite angry, but is lying to get Carter to accept a humiliating assignment as a supposed reward.
48* ArtifactTitle: There's only one scene in the first movie where the title makes sense. The title is completely ignored in the sequels.
49* ArtisticLicenseExplosives: C-4 is a plastic explosive known for being extremely stable, and cannot be detonated by burning or shooting it. A trunkload of the stuff would also make a much, '''much''' bigger boom than what we see in the movie.
50* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: While staking out a restaurant in Chinatown, Lee passes the time by teaching Carter some pistol disarm moves. Their training prop is Carter's sidearm, with muzzle discipline thrown right out the window. We can only hope they cleared the weapon off-camera.
51** Pretty much nobody seems able to keep their booger hook off the bang switch.
52** During the victory dance he does in the opening sequence, Carter has his gun in his hand while his arms are akimbo. Granted, his finger doesn't appear to be on the trigger, but he's still jeopardizing any number of passerbys off screen.
53* ArtisticLicenseReligion: The second movie features a scene where Carter for some reason orders a kosher meal on an airplane, which includes gefilte fish (the outtake of that scene focuses on Chris Tucker repeatedly stumbling over the word, and the dish's name was not included in the final cut, leaving only the "kosher meal" part). It's highly unlikely gefilte fish would be served as part of an airplane meal. It's something Jews generally only eat on the Sabbath and holidays, and it's a bit pricey for airplane food. The scene seems rooted in a popular misconception that equates kosher food with Jewish cuisine. ''Kashrut'' is simply a set of restrictions on what an observant Jew can eat, and most standard American meals can be made kosher. If you request kosher food on an airplane, it's going to be pretty much the same type of food as any other airplane meal; it isn't likely to be a traditional Jewish dish like gefilte fish.
54* AssShove: Heavily implied to have been done to the duo by Creator/RomanPolanski's character in ''3''.
55* BadGuyBar: The Triad's bar in ''2''.
56* BarBrawl: The fight between Lee and the black thugs at the pool hall in the first movie.
57* BashBrothers: Lee and Carter start to demonstrate this in the second movie, where Carter's hand-to-hand skills have notably jumped up about 10 grades.
58* BigBad: Juntao [[spoiler: AKA Thomas Griffin]] in the first film.
59* BigBadDuumvirate: Ricky Tan and Steven Reign in the second film, although the latter tried to be TheStarscream towards the end; Kenji and [[spoiler: Vayden Reynard]] in the third film.
60* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: George at the end of third film.]]
61* BilingualBackfire: In the third film, Carter says some downright obscene things to Genevieve, assuming she can't understand him, only for it to turn out that she speaks six languages.
62* BilingualBonus: Several. For example, the name "Hu Li" translates to "fox."
63* BorrowedCatchphrase: In the second film, Lee says, "Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?!" (a line Carter said in the first film).
64* {{Bowdlerise}}:
65** When the first film was shown on TV years ago, "shit" was dubbed over every line with "stuff" or "it". As of today, the explicit word is muted out except the Comcast (USA Network, Syfy, E!, Bravo) broadcasts, where the film is left uncut.
66* BrickJoke:
67** In the first movie, Carter argues with a Chinese vendor and the latter responds: "Chinese food, no soul food here!" In the next movie, Kenny, one of Carter's contacts, owns a Chinese/''soul'' food restaurant.
68** At the end of the first movie, Lee kisses Carter as thanks for saving him from certain death. Carter does the same thing in the second movie, [[spoiler:to a wad of counterfeit cash kept in his pocket, which saves him from a fatal stab]].
69** In ''3'', Carter orders a gefilte fish on their flight, which he also ordered in the previous movie (where Chris Tucker had lots of trouble pronouncing it right, as shown in the outtakes).
70* BuddyCopShow
71* BullyingADragon: Carter tends to do this a lot.
72** In ''2'', he breaks Ricky Tan's laptop which caused the Triad mooks to attack him (and Lee).
73** Also in ''2'', he bursts in to Kenny's restaurant and humiliate him in front of his Chinese wife, children, and customers... then proceed to talk casually as if nothing happened. The thing is, unlike his FriendInTheBlackMarket contact in ''1'', Kenny is not just a restaurant owner but also a ''[[BunnyEarsLawyer martial arts expert]]''. Granted, Carter expected a violent response, and already drew his gun and pointed it at Kenny's head in the time it took Kenny to take a fighting stance. He wasn't likely to shoot, but he sees bullying and goading as a valid interrogation tactic. [[TruthInTelevision ...Which isn't unheard of among law enforcement.]]
74* CallBack:
75** In the first movie Lee and Carter are in Carter's car and Lee changes the radio station prompting Carter to yell "Don't you ever touch a black man's radio!". In the second movie the scene plays out again but with the roles reversed ("Don't you ever touch a Chinese man's CD!").
76** The line, "I'll go this way, and you go that way." In the first film, this is spoken during the climactic shootout by Lee to tell Carter to keep the big bad's mooks at bay while Lee goes his way to save the vases. In the second, the line is used while the two were at the massage parlor just before the obligatory fight begins after botching the arrest of Ricky Tan. In the third, the line makes its return with a variation at the end of the film when the French officer who harassed them awhile back congratulates them for their efforts and tells them that [[TemptingFate "they can do anything they want."]] Carter then says "You go this way" and likewise Lee says "and I'll go that way," and they each deck the officer with a well-timed punch in unison before dancing off to the streets as Edwin Starr's "War" plays.
77* TheCameo:
78** Stunt coordinator George Kee Cheung (Soo Yong's driver) and Barry Shabaka Henley (the lock-up guard) in ''1''.
79** Creator/JeremyPiven, Creator/DonCheadle (who took it under the condition he would get a brief sparring moment with Chan), Ernie Reyes Jr. (who plays a worker chased by Lee and Carter in the business suite), Saul Rubinek (as the casino box man), and Gianni Russo (as the pit boss) in ''2'',
80** Creator/RomanPolanski and Creator/JulieDepardieu in ''3''.
81* CampGay: The store attendant in the second movie, played by Jeremy Piven. Should have been offensive. Instead, it managed to be ''hilarious''. Even more so in the HilariousOuttakes where he goes off on a tangent about doing naughty things to Jackie Chan (if he didn't have a girlfriend). Jackie's limited English didn't allow him to realize the inappropriate comments being made and Chris dissolved into laughter.
82* CarRadioDispute: The duo get into this argument early on in the film when Lee turns on "Surfin' U.S.A." by Music/TheBeachBoys.
83* CeilingCling: Parodied in ''Rush Hour 2''. Lee successfully does this to avoid detection from a guard, but quickly realizes he's [[OhCrap staring down a security camera.]]
84* ChekhovsGun:
85** Done with an actual gun in the first film. Carter carries a second gun that's first played for laughs after he is disarmed, but pretty much saves his life at the end.
86** Carter pockets counterfeit money for "evidence" late in the second film when he finds it. [[spoiler:It ends up saving his life later when Hu-Li tries to stab him through the chest]].
87* ChekhovsSkill:
88** Carter requests that Lee teach him the gun disarming skill Lee used on him earlier. Carter uses it later on a mook and even lampshades it "Didn't know I could do that, did you?"
89** From the first film, Johnson's [[spoiler:bomb defusing training]] comes in handy in the climax.
90* CombatHandFan: A Triad assassin in the third movie carries one that is loaded with knives that she can also remove and throw.
91* CombatStilettos: Isabella in the second film, during the climax.
92* ComicallyMissingThePoint: In the first film, Carter hands Lee his ID badge in case anyone troubles him. Lee takes a look at it (which includes a picture of an afro-wearing Carter) and comments that it won't work because he's not 6'1".
93* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: When Carter and Lee finally manage to save Soo Yung in the first movie, a task that involves fighting through an army of mooks, the Big Bad, The Dragon, disarming a bomb, and surviving a near-death fall from the top of a building, the first thing she says to Lee after she punches his nuggets is "What took you so long!?"
94* CowboyCop: Both Carter AND Lee.
95** Especially Carter; he causes massive property damage, uses highly questionable investigation techniques, and doesn't bother hiding the fact he smokes weed.
96* CruelAndUnusualDeath: In the climax of the third film, Kenji fights Lee with a ceremonial sword which the Triads used to execute their enemies. The Triads used this sword to inflict 100 cuts to the body, while avoiding any major arteries to make sure the victim stayed alive for as long as possible.
97* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Carter is generally loud, rude, and almost gleefully engages in UncleTomFoolery. He's also a competent investigator and ''insanely'' fast on the draw and a ridiculously good shot. He even defeats two accomplished martial artists who gave Lee trouble in ''2'' and ''3''.
98* CrowdHockey: The detonator in ''2''.
99* CurbStompBattle: A hilarious example in ''3''. Carter and Lee try to fight a tall Chinese man, but he easily tosses and spins them around. The tall man also grabs the weapons Carter tries to hit him with and does a curb-stomp (minus the curb).
100* CutTheSafetyRope: [[spoiler: Lee and Kenji's sword fight results in them hanging over of a net which is starting to rip. Lee tries his best to pull Kenji up to safety, but knowing that the net isn't strong enough to hold both of them Kenji forcibly lets go of his hand and falls to his death.]]
101* DamselFightAndFlightResponse: During the kidnapping scene, the girl manages to frustrate and bruise much of the abduction team before they finally subdue her and stuff her into a van.
102* DamselInDistress: Soo Yung in the first AND third film. In the latter, she also doubles as BadassInDistress.
103* DarkActionGirl: Hu Li in ''2'' and the Dragon Lady Jasmine in the third film.
104* DarkerAndEdgier: Out of the whole trilogy, the first film takes the crown. The plot itself is more tense compared to the sequels.
105* DenserAndWackier: Unlike the first film which had a bunch of hilarious yet dramatic moments, the sequels get much zanier.
106* DescriptionCut: Early in the first movie, Lee tries to reassure Soo Yung, who's about to leave for the United States.
107-->'''Lee:''' And don't worry. America is a very friendly place.\
108''[cut to Los Angeles]''\
109'''Carter:''' ''[driving recklessly]'' Stupid fool! Get the hell out of my way!
110* DesignatedGirlFight: Between Isabella and Hu Li in the second film. Though unlike most fights, it doesn't last long, as Hu Li first kicks Isabella and then shoots her before going after Lee again.
111* DisneyVillainDeath: Happens to all three main villains in the series, though usually with a bit more proof they didn't survive the impact than at Disney. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] several times by Carter:
112** Immediately after the fall in 1, ''before'' saving Lee (also ''averting'' SoftWater):
113--->'''Carter:''' Whoooo, you ''know'' he dead!
114** During the blooper reel of ''2'':
115--->'''Chris Tucker:''' Damn! He ain't gonna be in ''Rush Hour 3''!
116* DonutMessWithACop: In ''1'', Clive attempted to shoo two patrol cops away by insulting them to buy donuts.
117* DoubleKnockout: It appears this happens towards the end of ''Rush Hour 2'' as Hu-Li stabs Carter through the chest and gets hit by a halberd knocking her out. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Then we find out that the large stacks of counterfeit money Carter kept in his pockets kept the sword from stabbing him]]]].
118* TheDragon: Sang (Ken Leung) in the first movie, Hu Li (Creator/ZhangZiyi) in the second and Jasmine in the third. Hu Li and Jasmine also double as the DragonLady, especially Jasmine in the third film (she's actually credited as "Dragon Lady").
119* DragonTheirFeet[=/=]PostClimaxConfrontation: At the end of ''Rush Hour 2'', Lee and Carter are catching their breath after defeating the BigBad, only for [[spoiler:Hu Li to arrive with a bomb that's about to blow.]]
120** Happens again in ''Rush Hour 3''. After defeating both Kenji and Jasmine, Lee and Carter parachute to safety, [[spoiler:only to find Reynard holding Genevieve hostage]].
121* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Carter's father, a legendary policeman by his son's retelling.
122-->'''Carter:''' My father ''was'' a legend. My father was killed during a routine traffic stop in broad daylight by some punk who didn't want no ticket! His partner was supposed to get out of the car to back him up but never did!
123* {{Eagleland}}: Not so much in the first two movies, but in ''3'' Carter gets pretty obnoxiously Flavor 2; accusing all Iranians of being terrorists and forcing a Frenchman to sing the US anthem ''at gunpoint''. In fairness though, Carter was [[DisproportionateRetribution responding]] to the French cab driver being a stereotypical French prick.
124* EaglelandOsmosis: The French taxi driver in the third film thinks all Americans are violent action-movie-character stereotypes. [[HypocriticalHumor Carter angrily holds him at gunpoint in response to his comments]].
125* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first film may have its fair share of comedy, but it takes itself quite seriously in terms of the plot, and is a fair bit more traditional action drama besides Carter's ego and Lee's martial arts. Compare and contrast to the sequels, which doubled down heavily on the comedic side of things to the point that were it not for the central protagonists, you'd think they weren't even in the same franchise.
126* EiffelTowerEffect: The setting for the climatic battle at the end of the third film.
127* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Lee and Carter are introduced in the first film conducting police operations using varying actions with different outcomes:
128** Lee stealthily boards a ship ran by Juntao, quietly detaining mooks and only resorting to violence at the last resort, never once firing his sidearm. He fails to get [[TheDragon Sang]], but recovers a priceless collection of Chinese artifacts.
129** Carter does a sting operation to catch an explosives/arms dealer named Clive Cod. However, not only is he late and drives recklessly to the meeting, Carter didn't have backup or bomb squad with him, due to a personal disdain for partners and his gung-ho attitude, the cops at the diner weren't warned about the sting, meaning that Carter was probably doing this without authorization, which leads to the two cops getting maimed by Clive shooting them (one of them [[{{Fingore}} losing a pinky]]), and then Carter start taking potshots at Clive's Jaguar, which forces Clive to jump out and detonates the C4 in the trunk of the car. In the end, Carter catches the bad guy, but is in trouble afterwards for leaving two cops injured, destruction of property, and causing public endangerment for blowing up a car in the middle of busy street.
130* EvilBrit: [[spoiler:Thomas Griffin, aka Juntao]] in the first movie.
131* ExactWords: When Thomas Griffin arrives to support his friend Consul Han, he says “I’m sorry my friend. I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.” [[spoiler: Considering Griffin is actually Triad leader Juntao, the film’s BigBad, what Han takes as a show of support is actually a face-to-face taunt from his enemy.]]
132* {{Flanderization}}: Zig-zagged with James Carter, who went from being a loudmouthed and self-centered but sometimes-competent detective in the first movie to being a SmallNameBigEgo that's unable to take anything seriously in the second. The third film kind of mixes the two. And that's not even getting into the UncleTomfoolery. He remains a competent cop throughout the series, however.
133** In the first film, his introduction consists of a botched arms deal (though it wasn't his fault), blowing up half a city block and getting two officers shot in the process. If anything he gets ''more'' competent as the films go on, not less, as he learns to work with a partner and exercise some degree of self-control.
134** In the second movie he correctly guesses that the owner of the casino was in league with Ricky Tan ("follow the rich white man") and even manages to last in a fight against Hu-Li.
135** In ''3'' he also is able to find the location of a club (if not by accident) that a mook only gives a vague address of, defeats several Triad bosses (on his own) and rescues Soo Yung (again). It should also be noted that his antics actually get him ''demoted'' to traffic duty by number ''3''.
136* FollowThatCar: Seen in ''2'', when Carter orders a taxi driver to follow a car. The driver doesn't move and keeps speaking Chinese to him (with no subtitles for non-Chinese-speaking viewers). After a few back-and-forth exchanges, Carter slips him some money and the driver says, in English, "Now you're speaking my language" and steps on the gas. As a BilingualBonus, the Chinese phrase that the driver repeated to Carter translates to "Money first."
137* FormulaWithATwist: This film is a late example of a Buddy Cop film that distinguishes itself by making its two stars Black and Asian (Creator/JackieChan and Creator/ChrisTucker) and incorporating elements of a MartialArtsMovie into its DNA.
138* FrenchJerk: The officer played by Creator/RomanPolanski.
139* FreudianSlip: Carter, when discussing the funny money with Isabella, who's only in her underwear and bathrobe:
140-->'''Isabella:''' Carter, this is your city, right?\
141'''Carter:''' Yeah, this is my titty. I mean, this is my city.
142* {{Gangbangers}}: In the first film, the black bartender and patrons with whom Lee fights because he accidentally insulted them and later, Sang's thugs at the restaurant he owns with whom Lee and Carter both fight.
143* GayMoment: Lee gratefully kisses Carter's cheeks a few times after he's rescued by Carter's quick thinking at the end of the first film. Carter, having just had Lee collide with his crotch, throws him off.
144-->'''Carter:''' Man, what the hell you doin'?!\
145'''Lee:''' I was just... being polite.\
146'''Carter:''' [[ThatCameOutWrong Well, next time, be polite to my nuts!]]
147* GloveSnap: Done by French airport security in ''3''.
148* GoodScarsEvilScars: Sang gets scarred by Soo Yung while kidnapping her, as she whips his face with the necklace Lee gave her.
149* HeterosexualLifePartners: Carter and Lee, bordering on HoYay. Brett Ratner even referred to the movie as a love story between the two.
150* HiddenWeapons: [[spoiler: After Sang challenges Carter to a fistfight, they both drop the guns they are holding. Sang then pulls a pistol, but Carter kills him with a Smith & Wesson Model 36 revolver that he had concealed in an ankle holster.]]
151* HilariousOuttakes: The series is known for showing various moments of hilarity that didn't make it into the film for obvious reasons.
152* HostageMacGuffin: Soo Yung in the first movie. There's a moment of LampshadeHanging when Chris Tucker's character is on the phone discussing the ransom payment with the girl's kidnapper: "Fifty million dollars? Who do you think you've got? Chelsea Clinton?"
153* HotterAndSexier:
154** The second film. The duo go to a massage parlor with a bevy of scantily-clad ladies. Isabella strips down to her bra and underwear in one scene, and opens her bathrobe later on in the scene. Carter and Lee are stripped buck naked and kicked out of a car on a busy freeway. This is all especially notable since the first film was largely free of sexual content, aside from a joke or two from Carter.
155** The third film also counts: It's the only film in the franchise to have a sex scene (or more accurately, a near sex scene). Then there are the topless dancers that Carter (posing as a costumer) inspects.
156* HypocriticalHumor:
157** In the first film, Stucky is greatly annoyed at being accosted by Carter while on the job, going so far as to call it harassment. What's Stucky's job? Peddling celebrity house maps to prospective stalkers.
158** Again in the first film. Carter derides the Chinese food he receives as being greasy, before asking the vendor if he has any chicken wings, baby back ribs or fries.
159** In the third film, Carter gets angered by George the cab driver insulting America and calling Americans the most violent people on Earth. Carter's response? Aiming his gun at George and ordering him to take back what he said.
160* INeverSaidItWasPoison: In the third film, Carter and Lee deliver Genevieve to [[spoiler:Minister Reynard]]. He orders her to take off her wig and show him the Shy Shen list tattooed on her head. Lee whispers to Carter that they never told him she was the list, revealing that [[spoiler:Reynard]] is working for the Triad.
161* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: Hilariously subverted in the second film. Towards the end, Lee has Ricky Tan at gunpoint when Carter shows up and Ricky asks Lee [[WouldYouLikeToHearHowTheyDied if he wants to learn how his father had died]]. Carter tells Lee to not lose it, but when Ricky insults his father, Carter goes "Aww hell no, he done went too far now Lee. Shoot his ass, Lee. Shoot his ASS!"
162* ImmigrantPatriotism: Kenji's parents were killed by the Japanese Yakuza; as a result, he's become a highly loyal Triad member.
163* ImpersonatingAnOfficer: The kidnapping of Soo Yung is carried out this way, with henchmen posing as traffic cops redirecting the vehicle she's in onto a side street. Then a police car pulls out in front of them, driven by "Officer" Sang, who shoots the driver and bodyguard and tries to grab Soo Yung, who fights back and tries to run, only to be picked up by a henchman on a motorcycle and thrown into the back of a white van.
164* ImprovisedZipline: Used to escape an explosion in the second movie.
165* InnocentlyInsensitive: Lee finds out the hard way that "What's up, [[NWordPrivileges my nigga?]]" is not a good way to break the ice in a bar full of black patrons (at least when you're [[NWordPrivileges not black yourself]]). The guys who attack Lee then find out the hard way that when a guy played by Jackie Chan makes that mistake, it's best to just let it slide.
166* IntimidatingWhitePresence: Humorously pointed out by Carter in the sequel when he's on a winning streak at a casino. When one of the security guards offer to take him to cash in his winnings, Carter jokes that he was getting nervous about being attacked by the many rich white people surrounding him.
167* IronicEcho:
168** When Carter told Sang and his goons in the Foo Chow restaurant to "put their guns down and fight like a man." Sang would later tell Carter the same thing in the expo when they face each other.
169** When Sang is about to kill Carter above the restaurant, he throws a handkerchief to him and says "Wipe yourself off. You're bleeding." Later, after killing the man in a shootout at the expo, Carter tosses a handkerchief on him and says: "[[BondOneLiner Wipe yourself off, man. You dead.]]"
170** When Lee first speaks English, Carter accuses Lee of lying to him about not speaking English. Lee replies, "I never said I didn't. You assumed I didn't." At the end of the movie, when Carter and Lee are aboard a plane, Carter speaks Chinese to a flight attendant and a surprised Lee says, "I didn't know you spoke Chinese!" Carter replies with a smile, "I never said I didn't. You assumed I didn't."
171* ItsAllAboutMe: In a SmallNameBigEgo way. Before the radio scene in the first film, Carter brushes off Lee's request that they need to go to the Consulate. Carter thinks that the United States of America revolves around him and thinks he's Music/MichaelJackson. Much later on, during the PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure scene, Lee calls him out on his self-centered behavior when Carter disguises himself as an airlines mechanic to retrieve Lee and prevent him from going back to Hong Kong.
172* ItsAllJunk: Throughout the second movie, Lee has kept his father's [[GenericCopBadges cop badge]] as a TragicKeepsake, but in the end, after defeating Ricky Tan, he offers it to Carter. At first, Carter refuses because of how important it's been to Lee, but when Lee says he doesn't need it anymore, Carter accepts it.
173* JanitorImpersonationInfiltration: Carter dresses as a United Airlines mechanic to get on the plane to retrieve Lee in the first movie.
174* JapaneseTourist: There's a busload of them in the first movie. They merrily take pictures even as Carter climbs into the back of their bus and tries to retrieve Lee at gunpoint. For extra hilarity, Carter even stops chasing Lee for a few seconds to pose for them.
175* {{Jerkass}}:
176** The FBI agents in the first movie.
177** The {{Gangbangers}} at the pool hall in the first film who assault Lee when he [[InnocentlyInsensitive innocently greets the bartender with the words]] [[MistakenForRacist "Wassup, my nigga?".]] Even if they were genuinely offended by the comment, trying to beat up (and possibly kill) him is certainly a case of DisproportionateRetribution, to say the least.
178** The taxi driver that Carter runs into in Hong Kong, who pretends he doesn't know English but speaks it when Carter pays him. He also drives off with Carter's chicken, after the latter told him to stay.
179* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
180** Carter. He's loud, obnoxious, and has a bit of an ego problem, but he genuinely cares about upholding the law and is a good friend to Lee.
181** In the first film, Clive is guilted into giving information on Juntao after being shown a picture of [[DamselInDistress Soo Yung]].
182* KungShui: Naturally occurs in the BarBrawl between Lee and the bartender and patrons at the pool hall in the first film. Interestingly inverted during the climactic showdown with Juntao in which Lee squares off against Juntao's henchmen in a room filled with priceless artwork, and Lee goes out of his way not to break anything.
183* LaserGuidedKarma: For tricking Carter into looking after Lee just to get rid of him as he wanted to solve the case of finding Soo Yung himself and dismissing them of the assignment, Russ gets wounded by Juntao and in the end, he gets rejected of the FBI badge he wanted to give Carter for completing the assignment.
184* LancerVsDragon: Carter serves as the Lancer and comedic foil to Lee and faces the BigBad's Dragon in the climax of each film.
185** In the first movie he faces Sang, Juntao's second-in-command. Sang at first offers to fight Carter hand-to-hand but then tries to pull a gun on him. Unfortunately for him, Carter is a faster draw.
186** The second film has Carter fighting Ricky Tan's second-in-command [[DragonLady Hu Li]]. Carter is clearly outclassed and only manages to knock her out through dumb luck. [[spoiler: Hu li tries to take out herself, Carter and Lee with a bomb in the end, the two cops barely escaping while she dies in the explosion herself.]]
187** After fighting off Kenji's {{Mooks}} by himself, Carter faces off with Kenji's assassin Jasmine while trying to rescue Soo Yung. [[spoiler:Carter saves Soo Yung and knocks Jasmine into a rotating crank, killing her]].
188* MacGuffinMelee: The Red Dragon Casino fight, involving a bomb detonator.
189* MadeOutToBeAJerkass: Carter gives Lee a hard time in ''Rush Hour 2'' about working cases during his holiday and the audience is supposed to feel sympathy for Lee as Ricky Tan killed his father. However, it is worth pointing out that Lee told Carter that his supervisor invited them both to a party and then took Carter to a Triad bar without telling him the situation putting his life in danger as Carter assumed that the place would be full of police or normal people and might have revealed he was a policeman with his friend another policeman to a girl.
190* TheManBehindTheMan: Discussed in the second movie as a theory Carter calls "Follow the rich white man," which is that "Behind every crime is a rich white man waiting for his cut." He turns out to be [[spoiler:right]] in this particular instance. In fact, ''every'' movie in the series has at least one "rich white man" involved in the evil scheme.
191* MisfitMobilizationMoment: Occurs in the first movie when Carter convinces Lee to stay in Los Angeles and continue the case.
192* MistakenForGay: Carter and Lee are assumed to be a couple by a CampGay store attendant in the second movie, who "loves it when couples match."
193* MistakenForRacist: Happens in the first movie when the two go to a pool hall. Carter, who's known by the patrons, greets them by saying "What's up, [[FunetikAksent mah]] nigga?" While Carter goes into a back room to interrogate a source, Lee tries to start a friendly chat with the bartender using the same line. Since this is a Jackie Chan movie, [[BarBrawl fighting ensues]].[[note]]Before going inside, Carter told Lee to "follow [his] lead and do what [he does]." Problem is the patrons there are of the same race as Carter is and he forgot to warn Lee to refrain from using specifically insensitive comments that could anger the patrons.[[/note]]
194* MockMillionaire: In the second movie, Carter tries to impress a beautiful girl at a yacht party by pretending to be the yacht's owner. Later, he spends (counterfeit) money like a madman at the Red Dragon casino to distract the other gamblers.
195* MonumentalBattle: The fight on the Eiffel Tower at the end of the third film.
196* MoodWhiplash: Only seconds after Soo Yung's exuberant, hilarious singing-along to [[Music/MariahCarey Fantasy]] in the car, she's screaming as Sang mercilessly shoots her two bodyguards in the head and tries to kidnap her.
197* MrFanservice: The second film treats us to several scenes of a shirtless Carter in a massage parlor.
198* MsFanservice: Isabella Molina in the second film as played by Creator/RoselynSanchez. She even has a lengthy scene where she strips down to her BlackBraAndPanties while Lee and Carter watch.
199* MyDadCanBeatUpYourDad: In the first movie, Lee and Carter get into an argument about their deceased fathers, culminating in this:
200-->'''Carter:''' Your daddy was a cop?\
201'''Lee:''' Not a cop. An officer. [[ShroudedInMyth A legend]]. All over Hong Kong.\
202'''Carter:''' My daddy [is] a legend too. All over America. My daddy once arrested 15 people in one night. By himself.\
203'''Lee:''' My daddy arrest[ed] 25 by himself.\
204'''Carter:''' My daddy saved 5 crackheads from a burning building. ''[[RunningGag By himself]]''.\
205'''Lee:''' My daddy once [[BulletCatch caught a bullet with his bare hands]].\
206'''Carter:''' [''{{Beat}}''] My daddy'll kick your daddy's ass all the way from here to China or Japan - [[RacialFaceBlindness wherever the hell you're from]] - and all up that Great Wall too.\
207'''Lee:''' Hey, [[CavemenVsAstronautsDebate don't talk about my father]].\
208'''Carter:''' [[HypocriticalHumor Don't talk about my daddy]].
209* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: Thanks to his poor poor Cantonese, Carter invited two girls to get naked and sacrifice a small goat instead of having a drink. He also told ''[[BadGuyBar the entire triad bar]]'' to take out [[KatanasAreJustBetter their Samurai swords]] and shave his butt, at which point he dragged Lee onstage to translate for him. It's heavily implied that he bought the wrong Chinese-To-English phrasebook before their trip to Hong Kong.
210* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Demonstrated in ''2'' when Carter and Lee are stripped of their clothes and forced to run back to the police station with only trash can lids and newspaper as their coverings.
211* NextSundayAD: The ending of the ''1'' is inadvertently this as the sequel takes place immediately after it and was released in 2001.
212* NoodleIncident: Isabella, the Secret Service agent from ''2'', is mentioned in ''3''. Though it seem she had a falling out with the two and the most we hear on the reason is that Carter accidentally shot her. And apparently left her temporarily brain dead. Ouch.
213* NobleMaleRoguishMale: Lee, the well-mannered honest cop and Carter, the wisecracking rogue cop.
214* NotSoAboveItAll: In the second film, Lee is spying on Isabella after Reign when she starts to undress. Despite typically being portrayed as being more mature and respectful of women than Carter, Lee continues watching her and is quite obviously enjoying it.
215* NWordPrivileges: See MistakenForRacist above.
216* OddCouple: Pretty much the main reason why these movies exist.
217* OhCrap:
218** During the scene described under GloveSnap above.
219** In the second film, Lee whispers "oh shit!" when he sees a surveillance camera next to him during the CeilingCling while attempting to infiltrate the Red Dragon casino. Also, when he went into the treasury room just seconds later, he had this reaction when the monitors started displaying him in the screen and marked him as an intruder.
220*** Not only that, but notice that while Lee was on top of the security case before the CeilingCling, there were cameras on ''every'' open section of the ceiling.
221* OnceAnEpisode:
222** The plot of every movie is that Lee and Carter must stop a massive Chinese criminal organization that has a rich and/or powerful white man as either the head of said organization or at least a major corroborator. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the second movie, when Carter correctly fingers Steven Reign as the "rich white man" shortly after his introduction.
223** The climax of each movie will have the BigBad fight with Lee from a high spot and fall to their deaths, with Lee (and Carter in the sequels) nearly suffering the same fate afterwards.
224* OneOfOurOwn: In the first film, the patrol cops who attempt to arrest both Carter and Clive are apparently unaware that Carter is working undercover in a sting operation to arrest Clive for selling explosives.
225* PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure: In the first film, after Lee and Carter [[NiceJobBreakingItHero inadvertently screw up the FBI's plan]]. This also happens in the second movie after the massage parlor incident, then in the third movie after escaping from the sewers.
226* PocketProtector: In the second movie during Carter's fight with Hu-Li. [[spoiler:Carter is stabbed in the chest, but saved by the wad of counterfeit bills he had in his jacket's breast pocket.]]
227-->[[spoiler:'''Carter:''' Thank you, Benjamin. Thank you.]]
228* PoliticallyIncorrectHero:
229** Carter sometimes crosses into this, such as his ChivalrousPervert[=/=]CasanovaWannabe towards many women throughout the films which would make you think that he saw all women as sex workers of some sort or potential sexual partners. He's also disgusted and immediately assumes Genevieve is a man or transgender just because she's bald and wears a wig. He does have his limits, though, as he treats Consul Han and Soo Yung with respect and affection, respectively, and when Soo Yung has [[SheIsAllGrownUp grown up]], he never flirts with her and instead acts like PapaWolf towards her.
230** The [=FBI=] in the first movie. Their reasons for not wanting the help of Lee boil down to a mix of wounded ego and plain-old racism at having to work with some "Chung King cop" rather than solve the case themselves.
231* PricelessMingVase: Lee puts a lot of effort into protecting one in the first movie while also fighting Juntao's men. He barely succeeds... [[ShootTheShaggyDog and then a random bullet destroys it.]]
232-->'''Lee:''' [[PrecisionFStrike SHIT!]]
233* PronounTrouble / WhosOnFirst: In ''Rush Hour 3'', this was done in a dojo when Carter was speaking with Master Yu and Sifu Mi.
234-->'''Carter:''' Who are you?\
235'''Yu:''' Yu.\
236'''Carter:''' No, not me, you!\
237'''Yu:''' Yes, I am Yu.\
238'''Carter:''' Just answer the damn question! Who are you?\
239'''Yu:''' I have told you!\
240'''Carter:''' Are you deaf?\
241'''Yu:''' No, Yu is blind.\
242'''Carter:''' I'm not blind, ''you'' blind.\
243'''Yu:''' That is what I just said.\
244'''Carter:''' You just said what?\
245'''Yu:''' I did not say "what", I said "Yu"!\
246'''Carter:''' That's what I'm asking you!\
247'''Yu:''' And Yu is answering!\
248'''Carter:''' Shut up! (''to Mi'') You!\
249'''Yu:''' Yes?\
250'''Carter:''' Not you, ''him!'' What's your name, man?\
251'''Mi:''' Mi.\
252'''Carter:''' Yes, you!\
253'''Mi:''' I am ''Mi.''\
254'''Yu:''' He's Mi, and I'm Yu.
255** ''Rush Hour 2'' did it in the opposite direction, when discussing Carter's apparent death:
256-->'''Carter:''' Who died?\
257'''Lee:''' You!\
258'''Carter:''' Detective Yu?\
259'''Lee:''' Not Yu, YOU!\
260'''Carter:''' Who?\
261'''Lee:''' YOU!\
262'''Carter:''' Who?
263* PunctuatedForEmphasis: In the first movie:
264-->'''Carter:''' Do you! Understand! The words! That are coming out of my mouth?!
265* RacialFaceBlindness: In ''2'', after hitting Lee (played by Jackie Chan) by mistake in the massage parlor fight, Carter (who is black) says "All y'all look alike!"
266* ReassignmentBackfire: The FBI wanted Carter to keep Lee away from their investigation. Instead, Lee and Carter save Soo Yung and expose her kidnappers themselves.
267* RedOniBlueOni: Carter and Lee. It is more prominent in the third movie due to Lee wearing dark blue suits and Carter wearing dark red suits. Exaggerated when they are using the French flag to escape from the Triad goons; guess which side Lee and Carter are on.
268* RunningGag:
269** Carter imitating Music/MichaelJackson, which is done at least once in all three films.
270** In the outtakes of ''2'', Chris Tucker, in character as Carter, keeps addressing Jackie Chan as "Jackie" instead of "Lee." In the final outtake, Don Cheadle eventually has enough.
271--->'''Carter/Tucker:''' Jackie, kick it!\
272'''Lee/Chan:''' Okay, [[LampshadeHanging Chris Tucker!]] ''[kicks door]''\
273\
274'''Carter/Tucker:''' Jackie, kick it!\
275'''Lee/Chan:''' [[OhNoNotAgain "Jackie" again?]] ''[kicks door]''
276** Carter's MediumAwareness in the bloopers:
277--->'''Carter/Tucker:''' Damn! He ain't gonna be in ''Rush Hour 3''!\
278'''Carter/Tucker:''' I'm not your brother? All the stuff we've been through? ''Rush Hour 1'', ''Rush Hour 2''?
279** Also, every time Lee has a gun and is about to shoot someone with it, he either consistently gets disarmed or holds himself back from pulling the trigger due to either an obligatory fight scene, plot reasons, or having moral issues. Carter is the only one of the two depicted as being more than happy to pull the trigger.
280** In the second movie every time Hu Li and Carter are in the same scene, at some point Hu Li will [[AmusingInjuries kick Carter in the face]].
281* SadlyMythtaken: Steven Reign made an opening speech by telling a story about a dragon who guarded his treasure hoard until it grew too big and got stuck. Ricky Tan claims to have been told this same story as a child and the casino appears to be Chinese themed. While [[DragonHoard dragon hoards]] do exist in Chinese mythology, this story is more in line with [[Literature/TheSagaOfTheVolsungs Fafnir]] since fuzanglong aren't associated with greed.
282* SaveTheVillain: [[spoiler: Lee and Kenji's sword fight results in them hanging over of a net which is starting to rip. Lee tries his best to pull Kenji up to safety, but knowing that the net isn't strong enough to hold both of them Kenji forcibly lets go of his hand and falls to his death.]]
283* SequelGoesForeign: While all three movies are set in Los Angeles for the most part, the second movie is set in Hong Kong (at least in Act 1) and the third movie went to Paris.
284* SequelHook: In an ''outtake'' of all places. After the villain of ''Rush Hour 2'' is thrown out of a window onto a car, Carter quips "Damn... he ain't gonna be in ''Rush Hour 3''!"
285* SequelNonEntity:
286** Tania Johnson is absent from the second and third films.
287** Han and Soo Yung are absent from the second film, but return in the third.
288** Isabella, Lee's Secret Service love interest in the second film doesn't return in the third film. She and Lee broke up after Carter shot her in the neck.
289* SheIsAllGrownUp: Carter has this reaction in ''3'' after seeing Soo Yung for the first time in nine years. Surprisingly, he doesn't hit on her. In fact he acts as something of a PapaWolf towards her.
290* ShoutOut:
291** Consul Han's full name is Solon Han. [[Franchise/StarWars What does that sound like]]?
292** Also, [[Film/TheLoveBug the line "Now you're speaking my language" spoken by a Chinese man]].
293* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: For [[PaedoHunt obvious reasons]], Creator/RomanPolanski's role in part three as a French officer was kept pretty quiet.
294* SmartCopDumbCop: The two main leads have this dynamic. Lee is a competent, sensible and disciplined Hong Kong cop with an admirable record. Carter, while having the [[SmartBall occasional]] moment of brilliance, is mostly loud, arrogant, impetuous and ignorant which often results in him and Lee getting into easily avoidable trouble.
295* SoftWater: Averted in the climax of the first film. Juntao[[spoiler: a.k.a. Thomas Griffin falls from a height of at least ten stories into a small pool of water. Carter’s immediate response? “Woo, you know he dead.”]]
296* SoulBrotha: Carter.
297* SpringtimeForHitler: Jackie Chan has gone on record that he didn't think ''Rush Hour'' would be as successful as it became. He did the film to test the American market. He also admitted to not understanding a good portion of the jokes in the films.
298* StabTheSalad: Before fighting Carter towards the end of the second movie, Hu Li grabs a chopstick, holding it menacingly, only to use it to tie her hair back.
299* StrappedToABomb: At the climax, Soo Yung's kidnappers outfit her with a vest covered in C4 charges, rigged to go off if triggered via remote ''or'' if the vest is removed. A variation also occurs in the second movie, where a small bomb is planted inside of Lee's mouth and sealed with tape.
300* SuddenlyShouting: Delivered by Carter as an intended PreAssKickingOneLiner in the second movie. It doesn't save him from getting [[OneHitKO One-Hit KO'd]] by Hu Li's mighty foot.
301-->'''Carter:''' I'm gonna give you an L.A.P.D. '''ASS-KICKIN'!''' *POW*
302* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Carter's superiors have little patience with his CowboyCop attitude and by the third movie, he is demoted to traffic officer. Similarly, Lee can only tolerate with Carter for so long but the last straw was when Carter shot Lee's girlfriend in between the second and third movies and the two are pretty much estranged.
303* SuspiciouslyAproposMusic: In ''2'', a bomb goes off at the police station where Detective Lee works to his utter shock as he believes his partner Detective Carter was killed in the blast after the two of them had an argument and walked off in bad moods -- Carter actually left before the blast to walk around Hong Kong. Needing time to digest everything, Lee goes for a drive and turns on the radio which soon plays [[Music/SeanCombs P. Diddy]]'s "I'll Be Missing You", a song that was written in memory of Music/TheNotoriousBIG soon after the latter was murdered due to gang violence.
304* TaughtByTelevision: The taxi driver in the third movie, during the first chase scene.
305* TechnicalPacifist: Averted in ''2''. One of the fight scenes focuses on everyone in the room trying to get their hand on a gun. A behind-the-scenes DVD featurette shows that the script originally called for Chan's character to have the gun fall in his hand, and then throw it away in disgust. Chan rightly pointed out that, given the fight going on in the room, throwing it away was "stupid."
306* TemptingFate:
307** In the first film, Lee threatens that nothing better happen to all the priceless Chinese art and artifacts. Carter reassures him: "Don't worry, ain't nothin' gonna happen to any of this stuff." Only a couple minutes later, a huge gunfight erupts in the room, which destroys many of the items.
308** In the second film, when Lee and Carter are hanging on a bamboo in LiteralCliffhanger-like situation:
309--> '''Lee:''' Don't worry, Chinese bamboo... is very strong!\
310''[The bamboo begins to tear apart.]''\
311'''Carter:''' W-Whoaa! L-Lee, are you sure!?\
312'''Lee:''' ''[hopelessly]'' [[BlatantLies Y-Yes, I'm sure!]]\
313''[The bamboo tears apart in two and the duo falls.]''
314* TitleDrop: In the first movie.
315-->[''[[TheDragon Sang]] stops Soo Yung's car, dressed as a cop'']\
316'''Soo Yung's Driver:''' Is there a problem, officer?\
317'''Sang:''' No problem. Just rush hour.\
318''[Sang shoots both guards and abducts Soo Yung.]''
319* ToThePain: In the second movie, Lee explains to Carter how the Triads will torture them.
320-->'''Lee:''' First, they will torture us for 3 days...\
321'''Carter:''' I can take that...\
322'''Lee:''' Then, [[GroinAttack they will cut off our eggrolls.]]
323-->'''Carter:''' Cut off our egg rolls?! Aw hell no! Let's get the hell outta here!
324* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:When Reign betrays Tan and takes the plates, he shows him he has a gun as a warning. But does he take the gun out, point it at Tan and keep his distance? No, he keeps it under his pants, walks right up to Tan where he could've easily taken his gun from him. Or stab him in the gut (which he does).]]
325* TookALevelInBadass: Carter has two black belts by the third movie. He shows this near the end where he manages to ''single-handedly'' defeat a group of Kenji's goons in hand-to-hand-combat. Soo Yung also has her moments in the third movie with the exception at the end of the film.
326* TrademarkFavoriteFood: In the first movie, Lee orders Chinese food from a roadside merchant for the both of them, causing Carter to complain about the grease. The merchant's reply? "Chinese food. No soul food here."
327* TranslationConvention: The series pointedly averts this, featuring a great deal of Cantonese, and in the third film's case, French.
328* TranslationByVolume: Carter did this to Lee when they first met:
329-->'''Carter:''' DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS THAT ARE COMIN' OUT OF MY MOUTH?!
330* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: They are prevalent in the first two films. They also appear in the third, although rather unusually, they don't even speak in their native Chinese tongue but in French.
331* TruthInTelevision:
332** The taxi driver in ''3'' isn't actually all that far off from what some foreigners think of Americans.
333** French-speaking Asian people aren't exactly rare in real life, unlike what Carter thinks. French is one of the most popular foreign languages, besides English, in many Asian countries. (There's a reason why much of Southeast Asia was once called "''French'' Indo-China".)
334* TWordEuphemism: Played with in ''Rush Hour 3''. Carter and Lee are interrogating a man who speaks only French, so they enlist a nun, who's fluent in French, to translate. So, naturally, when she translates the prisoner's taunts, she summarizes with, "He used the N-word." For the rest of the scene, Carter and Lee ask her to translate things like, "tell this piece of S-word that I'll personally F-word him up", complete with brief stops to determine the spelling of some of the words. Lee eventually loses patience and [[HypocriticalHumor hypocritically]] tells the nun "Just call him an asshole!"
335* UncleTomfoolery: Carter, especially in the later movies.
336* UnsettlingGenderReveal: Carter is falsely under the impression that Genevieve is a man in the third film when she removes her wig to reveal that she's bald.
337-->'''Carter:''' Holy Mother of Jesus! She's a man! I went to second base with a damn Frenchman! It's Film/TheCryingGame! I'm [[Film/BrokebackMountain Brokeback Carter!]]
338* UseTheirOwnWeaponAgainstThem: During the GoodTimesMontage in the first movie, Lee shows Carter how to take a gun from an opponent. This comes in handy when Carter is able to disarm a henchman and knock him out using his own gun.
339* VileVillainSaccharineShow: The films are fun action-comedies, but the villains are treated pretty seriously. Thomas Griffin in particular is a rather serious threat.
340* VitriolicBestBuds: Lee and Carter become this by the end of the first film.
341* WaxingLyrical: Carter says the lyrics to "Lady Marmalade" when in bed with Genevieve in the third film.
342-->'''Carter:''' Voulez-vous coucher avec moi...
343* WhiteBreadAndBlackBrotha: PlayedWith. Lee takes the place of the White Bread, being polite and stoic when he's on the mission. Carter, meanwhile, is the Black Brotha, being a wisecracking MotorMouth who's despised by his superiors for his recklessness.
344* WhosOnFirst: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU4lYcN6zEY He is Mi and I am Yu.]]
345* WokFu: There's a fight followed by a chase through a Chinese restaurant.
346* WouldntHitAGirl: Subverted in the second film; Carter keeps getting KO-ed by Hu Li, and finally loses his patience at the casino and declares he's going to fight her seriously. Then DoubleSubverted when she proves to be a much better fighter than him and he spends most of the fight running away or defending himself and more or less knocks her out by accident.
347-->'''Carter:''' I'm gonna pretend you a man. A very beautiful man with a perfect body that I'd like to take to the movies.

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