The Banquet An adaptation of "Hamlet" set in 10th century China. Coming Fall 2006.

Jasmine Women
A story of love and loss over three generations of women in a single family in Shanghai.

Memo to Hollywood: More Zhang Ziyi, please.

Zhang, the headstrong, impetuous, breathtaking young actress who illuminated "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" with such a fierce flame, is the best thing about "Rush Hour 2," her first almost-Western movie.

It's not a great big role -- you've got to get through Chris Tucker carrying on as if he's the star and the great Jackie Chan in a mood of seeming disinterest -- but when Zhang arrives, attention must be paid.

With her regal presence, her stunning athleticism and that incredible knife-blade of an attitude, she's like an Asian Lucy Liu. Wait a minute. That doesn't make any sense, except that it's true. Which leads me to a second Hollywood memo:

Idiots, put Lucy Liu and Zhang Ziyi in the same movie, and watch the bucks pour in!

"Rush Hour 2," a follow-up to the more successful original, is otherwise pretty much of a shambles, with a few minor amusements other than Zhang along the way.

As I say, Chan seems muted. It's as if the director, someone named Brett Ratner ("A Brett Ratner Film," the credits proudly proclaim), thinks Tucker is the real attraction. So the first part of the movie is mostly Tucker hamming it up for the camera, his inane braggadocio and self-love exiling the far more interesting Chan to the edges.

As the nominal plot has it, Tucker's LAPD detective Carter is in Hong Kong visiting his pal Inspector Lee (Chan) when a terrorist group starts blowing up American entities. All signs lead to Ricky Tan (John Lone), and Inspector Lee is assigned to track that slick gangster down, but Detective Carter keeps getting in the way.

This leads to a series of big fight sequences in various Hong Kong locations like massage parlors and construction project scaffolding, in which Chan does all the work and Tucker all the posturing. It grows tiresome.

Eventually, the movie moves to L.A., then Las Vegas, where it picks up both speed and Zhang. She's a terrorist in the employ of Ricky Tan, and every time she appears on-screen, the movie gets very interesting.

More details would be pointless. It's about half as much fun as the original, and for August, that's probably good enough. Which leads me to a last Hollywood memo: