Will Shanghai Knights be as funny as its predecessor Shanghai Noon? Time to check out this sequel from Touchstone Pictures.
The Plot
Chon Wang is living well in America. His ideal life is thrown into turmoil when he learns of the death of his father. Hoping to get his investment money which he left with his friend Roy O’Bannon, Chon is forced to join forces with his old ally, and together the two head to London in pursuit of his father’s killer.
In London, the two encounter a whole new world. From pickpockets in the form of a child named Charlie, and a Scotland Yard officer who becomes a fast friend, Chon and Roy are struggling to make headway in finding the killer.
When they meet up with Chon’s sister, the three work together and learn that a devious Lord of the Royal Family is looking to kill Queen Victoria and gain the throne of England, Chon and Roy are racing against the clock to save the queen, and exact revenge on Chon’s father’s killer.
While the two work together, Roy develops a relationship with Chon’s sister, and Chon must face off against Wu Chow. The fate of the world rests in Chon and Roy’s hands. If only they had a clue about what was happening.
The Good
Jackie Chan is a master on screen with his precision movements, and his humor is great. Not only does Chan try to blend humor with martial arts, but he also takes the lead role in the film and does so flawlessly.
Having the sequel to a western comedy be placed in London during Queen Victoria’s jubilee was a great way of not repeating the original movie. A change of scenery is always good for sequels like this.
Donnie Yen is always great, and being able to watch him and Chan fight on screen was awesome.
The Bad and the Ugly
Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson are funny, but the story of Shanghai Knights lacked any opportunity for them to be themselves.
There is an urgent sense to cram every sort of English literary and historical figure into the film, even if they don’t belong there, that I felt like the movie was more about, “how many more people can we squeeze in” than what can Wilson and Chan do.
From a character named after Arthur Conan Doyle, to the Jack the Ripper, and even references to Dickens characters, Shanghai Knights spends much of its runtime avoiding the story of Chon Wang and Roy O’Bannon.
Beyond the Film Facts
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson was nominated for a Young Artist Award for his role in the film.
- The movie was nominated for multiple MTV Movie Awards and Teen Choice Awards, including Best On Screen Duo for Chan and Wilson.
- At the royal palace, Chon and Roy meet the guards in the famous red uniforms. This is a historical mistake as those uniforms were not adopted until 1904 while the film is set in 1887.
- This film really liked Sherlock Holmes, the villain is named Lord Rathbone, named for famed British actor Basil Rathbone who played Holmes on the screen for many years.
- Rathbone is constantly lauded for being the finest swordsman in England. The real Basil Rathbone became a famous movie star in multiple swashbuckling films and was considered the finest swordsman on the silver screen.
- The character of Artie Doyle is supposed to be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Though he plays a cop in the film, Doyle was a physician in real life.
- Fann Wong did not have a background in marital arts.
- There is a nice reference to Midnight Cowboy in the film when Roy is almost hit by a carriage in London.
- Though Aaron Taylor-Johnson is supposedly playing Charlie Chaplin in the film, the real Chaplin wasn’t born until two years after the movie is set.
- There was supposed to be a third pirate themed film in the series called Shanghai Seas but after Disney canceled it in favor of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, the writing team has vowed not to write another Shanghai film until Shanghai Seas was made.
The Streamy Award
{The following four categories are based on a Film Reel scale. 1 Reel-Bored and Killing Time, 2 Reels-When You Have Some Time, 3 Reels-Make Some Time, 4 Reels-Big Screen Event}
I wanted to like the film, but I just couldn’t. Shanghai Knights is funny in parts but overall is a letdown from the first film.
I give the film a 1 Reel rating. If you are bored, have nothing to do then give it a try. Perhaps this film wasn’t meant for me.
Cast and Crew
- Jackie Chan as Chon Wang
- Owen Wilson as Roy O’Bannon
- Fann Wong as Chon Lin
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Charlie
- Aidan Gillen as Rathbone
- Donnie Yen as Wu Chow
Directed by David Dobkin
Produced by Touchstone Pictures / Spyglass Entertainment / Birnbaum-Barber Productions
Release Date: February 7, 2003
Budget: $50 million
Box Office Gross
Domestic: $60,476,872
Worldwide Total: $88,323,487
Coming Soon
Next week a retrospective of the past year of movie watching with the highs and lows of another year of screening films from the Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures vault.