In 1998 Jackie Chan became an international superstar. The reason, Rush Hour, a film with a hilarious wit and tremendous action sequences.The film also brought Lalo Schifrin back into mainstream scoring. For along time he had seemingly dissappeared and was given nothing but rubbish for several years. Director Brett Ratner, a fan of Lalo Schifrin since "Enter The Dragon" immediately asked Schifrin to score Rush Hour and sudsequently Rush Hour 2. "He is as important to Rush Hour as Chan and Tucker" claims Ratner. And that Schifrin is.
The second film Rush Hour 2 is even better than the first, funnier more brilliantly inspired action and alot more undressed girls (you might have been able to work that out from my poster at the bottom).
The music for Rush Hour 2 is also alot better. Whereas the original score had brilliant action music but little else this score has a few excellent romantic themes, more jazz and an inspired main theme.
The main theme is essentially the same however it gets full orchestral treatment and "won ton" of eastern flavour. This time it much better represents the place and feel of the film.
"Out of the Way" and "Parlor Fight" are excellent as punch up after punch up breaks out in the story, first in a disco club and then in a massage parlor. The music is frantic and yet still has obvious moments of comedy as first Chris Tucker sings "Don't stop till yer get Enough" and then Tucker smacks Chan in the face and apologises "Ahh you all look alike". All the while through these action cues Schifrin keeps the oriental flavour of the score with furious drum and timapani rolls combined with twiddling flutes and of course the tremendous sounding brass which for the first half (up to the songs) perform some excellent crescendos and snappy jazz, especially in "Parlor Fight" where the brass perform an simple three note motif that progressively gets louder as the fight progresses.
"Isabella" is the best of the romantic stuff with Roselyn Sanchez carefully parting the front of her dressing-gown to manipulate Carter and Lee and get them out of the way. The track isn't jazz and this enables it to be more gentle and flowing than the laments in the previous film.
The second half of the album after the songs is not so great. It lacks the bite of the first half and is overall less inspired. However it is still enjoyable. It has a jazzy swing as the heroes enter Los Angeles for the big climax.
"The Sword and the Spear" is another great action track. There is a great rythmn to the piece and some great short motifs that have the speed and elegance of Zhang Ziyi's balletic martial arts. By this point however, the score seems to be struggling for inspiration. Its still very good. Its just not excellent as the less inspired ending makes it just not sound as good as it should.
****
2. Out of the Way (4:12)
3. Mu Shu Parlor (3:55)
4. Parlor Fight (3:18)
5. Undercover Agents (3:01)
6. Isabella (4:47)
7. Lil Darlin (Composed by Neal Hefti) (4:23)
8. Shiny Stockings (Composed by Frank Foster) (6:43)
9. Nevada Mood (3:16)
10. The Cosmo is Las Vegas (4:05)
11. Like Father, Like Son (5:31)
12. The Sword and the Spear (2:19)
13. The Dragon and the Treasure (4:14)
