Shanghai Knights
by Barton Campbell

Let me start by saying that I loved Shanghai Noon. I also know that to have high expectations for a sequel is just a set-up for disappointment. And yet I couldn't wait for Shanghai Knights. Two of the most upsetting movies of last year were The Tuxedo and I Spy, which starred Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, respectively. And yet I still eagerly anticipated the release of Shanghai Knights. Well, not only was I not disappointed, but the sequel is possibly even more fun than the original.

Director David Dobkin and screenwriters Alfred Gough and Miles Millar know the key elements that the actors' previous writers and directors overlooked. One of the most important of these elements is freedom. Chan is given plenty of room for creating inspired action sequences in which he emulates and pays homage to his heroes, whether they be Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Gene Kelly or Mack Sennett's Keystone Cops (surprisingly no pie throwing was witnessed). Wilson, on the other hand, was obviously given the freedom to improvise, resulting in some of the most hilarious lines in recent cinema.

In between Chan's choreography and Wilson's dialogue is a ridiculous and historically inaccurate plot in which the characters Chon Wang and Roy O'Bannon travel to England in order to avenge the death of Wang's father. Accompanied by Wang's beautiful and talented sister Lin (Fann Wong), the pair must retrieve an ancient Chinese artifact and rescue the royal family from being killed off by machine gun. In their pursuits, they come in contact with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Queen Victoria, Jack the Ripper and a young Charlie Chaplin.

There are surely too many cliché jokes about England and fish out of water scenarios in general, but the real humor and entertainment comes from the two stars and works off their incredible chemistry together. Remarkably, there is little or no recycled material from the original - a rarity these days.

Shanghai Knights is a complete blast, a welcome load of laughs and excitement after an awful year for blockbuster movies. Hopefully, if any of this year's blockbusters are nearly as entertaining, 2003 could be a whole lot of fun.

©2003 Barton Campbell
CineScene