Shanghai Knights

The implied promise of a sequel is that it will give you what you got from the first movie, but that promise is often broken. Shanghai Knights is an exception, giving the audience that same mix of goofy dialogue and slapstick martial arts that made the first movie so much fun. This time the duo heads to England, allowing them to make a bunch of incredibly silly jokes about England and Sherlock Holmes and Charlie Chaplin. The movie is essentially one long wink, and if you like that sort of humor your likely to find much of it amusing. At times I thought they pushed the anachronistic dialogue a little too far, as when Owen asks the gorgeous Fann Wong if she works out, but overall it works pretty well. Chan supplies a number of very entertaining fight sequences along with his usual goofy charm and the end result feels like a more actiony version of a Hope/Crosby road movie.

Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson get together again in "Shanghai Knights," the sequel to "Shanghai Noon." It's difficult to say which I like better, although the two seem a little more at home in "Noon." "Knights" is a movie not to be taken seriously. The soundtrack attests to that, being mostly British invasion rock from the 1960's. And there is a lot of historical fudging, not the least of which is Owen Wilson's dialogue and attitude. He just seems so miscast as a cowboy. What keeps this movie from going wrong is Jackie Chan's amazing moves. Here he shows where he shines as an action-comedy star. And the martial arts styles of Fann Wong and Donnie Yen are no slouch either! So, never mind the anachronisms, just prepare to admire Jackie Chan.

I saw this movie only to accompany my children, but I absolutely loved it! Had never seen a Jackie Chan movie, but now I want to see Shanghai Noon too, so we will rent that one. There were several adult references and I don't mean sexually, but funny references only adults would remember. Be sure to stay for the credits as the outtakes are great. I want to see it again!

Shanghai Knights boasts an adequate story, interesting characters -loved the Scotland Yard inspector-, good acting -especially from the villains-, some funny moments, solid action scenes, cute movie and historical references, and strong production. So you can watch it confidently, knowing you're not going to get a horrid piece of junk.

That's the positive side. On the negative side, the movie is thoroughly unremarkable. I only watched it last night and I'm racking my brain trying to remember something memorable about it. After a while, I can only come up with two things. The name of the Jackie Chan character cracked me up: Chon Wang -pronounced "John Wayne". The same as in the first part, of course, but I haven't watched that since it came out.

The other thing that cracked me up ***minor spoiler start*** is that Roy blew all their money from part I by investing in zeppelins instead of cars. I thought that was pretty clever. But then there's the head-scratching moment when Roy confesses he lied, he actually lost the money publishing his book... a book that so happens to be a hit all over the country and is even well-known in England. Huh? I guess the script called for a "confession moment" and there was nothing else he could confess to right then ***minor spoiler end***.

How does this movie compare to Shanghai Noon? Can't tell, I don't remember. As for Rush Hour (not to mention early Jackie Chan films), I found the latter to be funnier, more original and an altogether better film. But Shanghai Knights is still OK, if you're tired of rewatching old Jackie films.

This sequel is actually better and funnier than the original. It also has cooler fight scenes too. It is actually a pretty good movie. I laughed really hard in the theater. The story is about a former chinese warrior Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) who after his father gets killed by a ruthless heir of the thrown, seek vengeance on him with the help of his old partner Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson) and his sister from China who told him about the death of his father. This one has actually more action and is more funny than the original by a long shot. I personally think that Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights are way better than the Rush Hour movies. I would say this is probably one of Jackie Chan's best movies, and his best comedy for sure. I would recommend this to fans of both Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan and Action/Comedy fans as well. Grade: B-.