“Rising Sun” is both a murder mystery and a buddy cop picture. I think the mystery element is pretty good but as a buddy cop picture, it’s ultimately a disappointment.

A young woman is strangled to death during rough sex on the board table in a skyscraper run by a powerful Japanese company. Officers Webster Smith (Wesley Snipes “U.S. Marshals”, “Blade II”) and John Connor (Sean Connery “Dr. No”, “Highlander”) are on the case. Just when the unlikely pair believe they have found the killer, a whole new window of possibilities becomes open and so the search for the real criminal continues but it seems everyone wants this case closed.

Wesley Snipes is okay as Webster Smith. Sean Connery is alright as John Connor. The issue is there is no real chemistry between the two of them. Unlike Mel Gibson (“Mad Max”) and Danny Glover (“Predator 2”) in “Lethal Weapon” or Jackie Chan (“The Tuxedo”) and Chris Tucker (“Money Talks”) in “Rush Hour”, the odd pairing doesn’t work here. There is plenty of racist dialog in other buddy cop pictures but here, it just seems a little too much and it isn’t necessary. The other characters aren’t particularly exciting and we get very little time with anyone except the two main characters.

“Rising Sun” is just dull for the most part. Where lots of other buddy cop pictures (e.g. “Lethal Weapon”) have worked, this movie just doesn’t. Sure, it’s a clever murder mystery but how many of those do we have? If you’re going to make a buddy cop movie then make a good one. It has mediocre performances, the racism is a bit too much and although I had fun with the various twists, the rest of the film is simply filler so I think you should probably give it a miss. Also, there are too many secret rooms in this film.