Shanghai Knights

reviewed by Dave

In many ways, Shanghai Knights is what a sequel is supposed to be. It certainly is more of the same formula that made Shanghai Noon so successful.

Jackie Chan has better action sequences, and Owen Wilson is given even more opportunity to employ his trademark humor, and that all leads to a mostly satisfactory, certainly enjoyable, but still flawed, film.

Shanghai Knights starts out with our characters separated, which seems a bit odd, since the ending of Shanghai Noon ends on the promise of them working together as lawmen in the old west. Chon Wang is still keeping an eye on the town, but his buddy Roy O'Bannon has left for New York. It isn't until Wang's father is assassinated in the imperial city that the two are reunited to search for the killer.

That's the story, and unfortunately, that's about all there is to it. Shanghai Noon had a more involved plot, where the humor and action scenes served to further the story. In the sequel, though, that has been reversed. The story is merely the excuse for the funny dialogue and the fight sequences. Judged purely on storytelling, Shanghai Knights fairs pretty dismally.

So why did I still find myself laughing and marveling at this movie? Once again, we're back to the lead stars. I've always enjoyed Wilson's brand of humor, and it's swung into high gear for Shanghai Knights. Even better, though, is a Jackie Chan fight scene that finally measures up to some of the best work he's done in his Hong Kong films.

One of the really amazing elements of Chan's early work is how long the camera will run, sometimes up to several minutes at a time, instead of quick takes that allow for perfecting much shorter pieces of the action. We get a terrific sequence involving, among other things, an umbrella that pays homage to Singin' in the Rain. So much happens, in so little time, but as the shot goes on, you'll become increasingly amazed. Chan's fifty years old. I honestly didn't know he was still capable of fight scenes like this.

If you are at all a fan of either of the two leads, you're going to like Shanghai Knights. I think that's a given. I am already looking forward to the film's release on DVD so I can watch Chan's big fight scene over and over - it's really that good.

Still, I really liked that Shanghai Noon proved you can make one of these movies and still tell a decent story. I'd give Noon 4 limes, Knights only 3.