Shanghai
Knights: The Sun Hasn't Set on Jackie Chan Just Yet!
Shanghai
Knights: The Sun Hasn't Set on Jackie Chan Just The best thing I can say about Shanghai Knights is that it returns Jackie
Chan to his rightful place as the most entertaining martial-arts star working
in movies today. The Tuxedo last year depressed me, because it was one
of the first Chan movies to make extensive use of "Matrix"-style visual
effects to show Jackie defying gravity to kick bad guys' in the face and save
the day. In the past, Chan himself was able to amaze audiences with his ability
to use props, climb walls, and bash hundreds of stuntmen in fantastically choreographed
fight scenes that had little to do with violence and everything to do with timing,
athleticism, and pure
showmanship.
I thought The Tuxedo was the first evidence that Jackie was getting to
old for this ... er, stuff, as Danny Glover use to say in the Lethal
Weapon flicks. Oh, no. Jackie's not too old. Jackie is in fine, vintage
form in Shanghai Knights, delivering at least three absolutely awe-inspiring
fight sequences. The first involves a revolving door and three cops in a New
York hotel. The second (and best) fight involves a busy street in London in
which Jackie has to fend off a gang of hoodlums using ladders, fruit, and (most
memorably) about a hundred umbrellas. The third is just an awesome knock-down,
drag-out duel to the death between Chan and Donnie Yen, one of the most
underrated action stars in all the world.
I am recommending Shanghai Knights solely on the basis of these three
sequences, which account for about one-fourth of the movie. The other three-quarters
of this sequel to the more entertaining Shanghai Noon from a few years
back will be largely forgettable. While I appreciated some of the goofy humor
the screenwriters threw in, riffing on everything from Charlie Chaplin
and Gene Kelly to Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper,
Shanghai Knights has several stretches of dead air thanks largely to
an unnecessarily creaky main plot.
Chan reprises his role as Eastern ... er, Western law man Chon Wang (meant to
be phonetically confused with screen legend "John Wayne"). The film
opens in 1887 with the murder of Chon's father by an English lord named Rathbone
(Aidan Gillen, who kind of looks like a young Alec Baldwin on
SlimFast). Rathbone, a cousin to the Queen of England and tenth in line for
the throne, is in league with the evil Wu Yip (Yen, best known for Iron Monkey
and Blade 2) to steal a priceless artifact that will help them murder
their way to being the leaders of England and China, respectively. The plan
is pure idiocy. All you really need to know is that both guys sneer a lot, and
they conspired to kill Jackie Chan's papa.
Chon reunites with fun-loving cowboy Roy O'Bannon (Wilson), a good-hearted
doofus who lives only to woo women and try different get-rich-quick schemes
(Roy squandered his and Chon's fortune from the first film on a zeppelin investment,
opting not to throw his money away on the new-fangled "automobiles that
will never catch on"). With the help of Chon's fetching sister (Fann
Wong), who Roy falls instantly in love with, the duo track the assassins
to Victorian London where much butt-kicking (all of it cartoonish) ensues.
David Dobkin doesn't so much direct this film as he stays out of his
two stars' way. He lets Chan do his thing, and he lets Wilson get away with
what had to have been a good dozen ad libs. Most of the humor is poked at British
stereotypes, including the standard gags involving yucky food, terrible teeth,
and stuffy manners. It's all quite stale, and Chan and Wilson together aren't
nearly as precious as the filmmakers think they are. But then Jackie springs
into action every 10 minutes or so, and all is right with the world if only
for a little while. I mean, seriously. It is a pleasure to watch this man put
boot to testicles.
Shanghai Knights is for Jackie Chan purists and fans of the first film
only. The production values are good, and the blooper reel at the end is top-notch.
Chan and Wilson aren't quite matinee idols. But they make for good Saturday
or Sunday matinee entertainment.
Shanghai Knights is rated PG-13 for action violence and some mild
sexual content.
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