Rush Hour 2016

Overall surprisingly fun to watch and in hindsight too early cancelled, still with some issues here and there.
Most noticeable the name. This show - just as Minority Report beforehand - is trying to sell itself by name only.
From the get go this is destined to fail, just as it will most likely fail with the upcoming Lethal Weapon series.
But in opposite to Minority Report, which was terrible written and casted, this show actually worked and perhaps Lethal Weapon could work, too. That's pretty much the same concept, only more serious than Rush Hour after all.

The issue here is, would you have watched this series (or Minority Report, or will watch Lethal Weapon) if not for the name only?
A few definitely, me included, but the majority certainly wouldn't have. Why bother with a synopsis like this if it does not go by a name that you can draw earlier experiences and impressions from, right? So, either way it's a show that's pretty much impossible to succeed. Decisionmakers in television might not yet know it, or simply don't care as long as they can fill a timeslot with something new.

Another issue is perhaps Gerald. He seems rather well received by the audience but he is too much of an idiot and way too often a deus-ex-machina device, who coincidentally knows something, or is into something Carter needs for the plot. He is a comic relief besides our at times "comical" main duo and simply over the top annoying most of the times in comparison to the tone the rest of the show sets. While no-one is doing something against it/him. That character undermines Rush Hour from the inside.
The actor for Gerald is doing a good job, though. His character is more of a conceptual issue and personally, as I said in another review, I prefer conceptual issues over stupidity. But this one comes heavily with both, sooo...hmmm.

Choreographies are filmed rather cheesy, shaky cam all the time, it gets tiring rather quick. Scenes at times cut terribly, you can see the actors stop their motion before hitting someone. But there's a good amount of action in most of the episodes, keeping your attention (or trying to).
Other than that this show may be mediocre or "casual" in comparison with the overload of procedural crime series these days (where this show only partially fits in), but the good kind of mediocre if you know what I mean. It's a fine early evening distraction, that does not insult your intelligence with each new episode. Quite the contrary, it does try to make reasonable sense and there's where credit is due. It's not overly complicated or brilliant but fine and I'd take this over shows that do insult your intelligence over and over and over again any time.

I found myself rather interested in the crimes they were dealing with and the overarching plot Lee's sister provided. I liked to watch these versions of Carter and Lee grow on each other, after an admittedly little bumby first 1 to ~3 episodes. Even if these versions of the characters are not the ones from the movies, although they try hard to be. Not sure if the conclusion of the season show was planned all along, or was done because of the early cancellation, but if you did not watch this yet, go ahead. It's a good timewaster with a satisfactory conclusion, even if a tiny bit rushed.