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Fun and entertaining, a good follow up for Chan and Wilson

Jason Cheng | Catonsville, MD | 01/29/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"In Shanghai Knights, Chon Wang and Roy O'Bannon find themselves teaming up again, but this time there is no princess to rescue. Instead, they head out to London to track down the person that murdered Wang's father, and to retrieve the imperial seal that was stolen from the Forbidden City. With the assistance of Wang's beautiful and resourceful sister Lin, they eventually uncover a conspiracy that will affect the power structure of the East and the West if it is allowed to succeed. Foreigners in a strange land, the dynamic duo must once more rely on Wang's quick hands and Roy's charming wits, not to mention the help of a few friendly natives, to complete their mission.A relatively standard buddy film, Shanghai Knights follows the same winning formula with Chan handling the fights and Wilson cracking the jokes. The two of them definitely seem more comfortable around each other the second time around, and as a result the movie benefits from the familiarity between the leads. The Chinese-Singaporean singer Fann Wong plays Chon Lin, relatively new to the cinema, she does a good job in the role of Wang's sister and as Roy's love interest, she also got the opportunity to kick a few butts at the same time. Donnie Yen is again underused as the exiled renegade Wu Chan, and even though he is very convincing as a villain, the short screen time he has doesn't even begin to demonstrate his versatility as an actor much less an accomplished martial artist. Lastly, Aidan Gillen's portrayal of Rathbone is surprisingly likeable, rather than the stereotypical evil mastermind we are so used to seeing in action comedies these days.Fans of Jackie Chan should be happy to know that he had abandoned the wire works and special effects recently seen in The Tuxedo, and had gone back to the traditional stunts he is known for. Unfortunately, the best match up in the movie, between Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen, happens to be one of the shortest fights. I cannot help but wonder if this was a Hong Kong production, we probably would've been treated with a 3 to 5 minute worth of uninterrupted kung fu goodness. Even so, Chan does have an incredible showdown at the end with Aidan Gillen, the sword action is fast and furious, and should be a treat to all action enthusiasts.Overall, the pacing of the movie is pretty good, although there are a few parts that seem to drag on endlessly, especially the opening scene in New York. Shanghai Knights is an enjoyable film that aims to entertain, it is for sure a fun ride, but I find the humor and the jokes aren't as sharp as the ones in Rush Hour, probably because Owen Wilson lacks the spontaneity of Chris Tucker. Oh yeah, don't forget to catch the blooper clips right before the credits, they are good for a few laughs."

Addendum to previous reviews

Daniel V. Reilly | 02/16/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I disagree in part to the reviews both positive and negative to this film. Please remember a few things: Chan choregraphed the fight sequences. The whole "in a real fight Yen could beat Chan" comment is flawed: JC was in total control of that fight, and younger vs. older: it doesn't matter. Who wins or loses is a device of the plot. He wins (and I'm not giving anything away; you see as much in the commercials) and the story moves on. The competition is now Matrix-style and Crouching Tiger-style martial arts filmmaking. Once you've opened the CGI-Pandora's-box, how do you compete with that? JC sticks to showing the artistry and physicality of the fight sequences that the outtakes later prove that the actors are actually fighting, and not "helped along" with any kind of flashy, sometimes distracting effects. The trick was to do old-school kung fu in light of the competition and have it work. In this movie, it works really well.As for JC losing creativity: remember this movie was made with American audiences in mind (think of all the really-corny, lighthearted, stereotyped ethnic jokes, and you can only conclude this was made for Americans). Americans are practically totally ignorant of any other movie JC has ever done outside of the Rush Hours. What movie hasn't recycled some of their better moments--especially sequels? Parts of the opening fight sequence were lifted from Rush Hour-2; parts of the end fight sequence was lifted from Shanghai Noon. They worked; they were memorable moments. Bring them back to refresh audiences' memories. The creativity comes from the situation and the scene. And all Jackie Chan movies have outtakes; they're not "beginning" to become signatures. They're a legitimate part of the movie--the only thing new about JC's outtakes is that they've stopped running credits over them.The movie has action. The movie has broad comedy. The movie takes the formula and chemistry and runs with it. It's totally different than anything out right now, and it's fun and well worth seeing."