Having been rather disappointed by Rush Hour 2, the sequel to the immensely popular Jackie Chan-Chris Tucker action comedy Rush Hour, I had rather modest expectations for Rush Hour 3, now playing in U.S. theaters.

The film far exceeded those expectations—it is not only a good deal better than Rush Hour 2, it’s about as enjoyable as the first in the series.

Like the other entries, it is directed by Brett Ratner, and blends action, comedy, and spectacle in the right proportions. The film is roughly equal parts Buster Keaton, Abbott and Costello, the Three Stooges, John Woo, and Die Hard. In short, it’s a real Jackie Chan film.

The comedy aspect, for example, includes much delightful slapstick humor, as one has a right to expect from a Jackie Chan film. But what is far superior in this movie, in comparison with Rush Hour 2, is the dialogue. One scene beautifully reprises the Abbot and Costello "Who’s on First?" routine, using the Chinese names Hu and Mi in a brilliantly fast-paced conversaton of confusion between Tucker’s character and a Chinese martial arts expert.

Another particularly funny scene has Chan’s and Tucker’s characters engaging a nun to help them translate as they interrogate a stubborn French assassin. The dialogue immediately devolves into an escalating exhange of obscenities, dutifully translated by the nun as "the N word," "the S word," and so on, with Chan and Tucker using the same approach to deliver their curse words, in deference to the nun’s sensibilities. It’s truly a classic comedy scene and quite original, to the best of my knowledge.

There are a couple of other scenes with similarly funny wordplay, and they help move the film move along nicely and ensure that it doesn’t rely too heavily on Chan’s trademark physical comedy—not that some of us can ever get too much of that.

Also enjoyable is the introduction of a French taxi driver who initially hates Americans. After a wild ride with Jackie and Chris chased by assassins on motorcycles, however, he decides he loves America. In fact, he says, he wants to be an American and "kill people for no reason." Score one for international relations.

Also impressive is the big action finale, which takes place high up on the Eiffel Tower and consists largely of the sort of death-defying stuntwork pioneered in the silent era by Douglas Fairbanks and Harold Lloyd and which still delights when done well. It is done very well indeed here, and the photography makes the structure of the tower look incredibly beautiful while the characters engage in the requisite high-altitude mayhem. This extended sequence is the best of this sort that Jackie has done in rather a while.

Also interesting in this sequence is a moral choice that the villain, Jackie’s childhood friend whom he looks on as a brother, makes when both men’s lives are in jeopardy. It gives the film a surprising moment of real seriousness and engages the audience’s moral faculties admirably.

As always, Tucker and Chan work well together, with Tucker’s glibness fully complementing Chan’s physical brilliance. The various culture clashes in the film might well give audiences something to think about, but doing so is not at all required. And that is a good thing, for it enables a wide range of people to enjoy the film, each on their own individual level. This is entertainment moviemaking at its best.

Recommended.