Rating: Summary: The Franchise Continues!!! Review: Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson reprise their hit roles from Shanghai Noon for another go around of odd couple-buddy kung fu action-comedy to solid results.THE STORY: After receiving word from his sister Lin (Asian Superstar Fann Wong) that their father was killed and the Imperial Seal their family was sworn to protect was stolen, Chon Wang reunites with Roy O'Bannon and heads to England to avenge his father's murder and recover the Imperial Seal. Along the way our heroes find help in the form of a young street thief and a "Scotland Yard detective with a penchant for deduction" and uncover a deadly plot that will change the course of history of both Britain and China if successful. Supporting stories include Roy's growing infatuation with Lin and Jackie playing "overprotective big brother." THE ANALYSIS: Like in the Rush Hour series, all the charm and chemistry between Chan and his buddy (in this case Wilson) is preserved. The pair work and play off one another well and it shines through. Wilson's hilarious, laid back delivery style again steals the show and even though he is aging Chan STILL delivers the goods action wise with his trademarked innovative, highly choreographed and amazing fight scenes. THE SEQUEL: Like in other "franchises" of late, this particular sequel does borrow and recycle bits from the first installment but does so without making the bits "old" or REALLY feel borrowed. Most notable of the borrowing is the "homage" to history with character name revelations (one REALLY obvious), one not-so-obvious. The other bits of course center around Roy and his usual want for women and the "odd couple" chemistry between Roy and Chon. BEST SCENES: -Rescuing Roy from certain death by water -Sheep scene -New York hotel fight scene -Street battle -Secret room battle -The End of Credit Bloopers THE VERDICT: Overall, fans of the first movie, and Jackie fans in general, will be pleased with this second outing. All the charm you expect from a Chan buddy comedy is still here and the action is as solid as ever. In all you get all the goods you look for in an action-comedy: kick ass fight scenes (the street fight with the umbrella was particularly sweet), solid humor (most of the bits are pretty darn funny) and a pretty nice story of two friends (you can almost feel for Roy when Jackie tells Lin about Roy's "goods."). In all, this movie came up just at the right time for this time of year considering all the problems going around now. It was the perfect two hour diversion from all the current troubles of the world. Hopefully they'll be another sequel, or we'll just have to wait for Rush Hour 3. Highly Recommended
Rating: Summary: Better than the First Review: Shanghi Noon set the stage for this funny and entertaining movie. This is one fo those movies you can kick back, relax and no matter who you are have a good time. Shanghi Knights takes place a few years after the events of Shanghi Noon. Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) is living a succesful life as sherrif of a small town. Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson) is living a seemingly succesful life with a series of action packed novels and investments. When Chon Wangs father is murdered he vows vengeance. SO with Roy O'Bannon they travel to England to find the killer and CHon sister. The reason this movie works is because both characters are now way out of their enviroment. WIth references to famouse British figures such as Jack the Ripper, Sir Arthor Conan Doyle, and Charlie Chaplain as well as inventions such as the Automobile and the Moving Picture this movie is funny and succesful without gooing into over kill. A must see.
Rating: Summary: A step down but still a worthy sequel. Review: Don't pay attention to the lack of continuity of SK with Shanghai Noon SN. The guts of this movie is the continuing relationship between the laconic Chong Wang, played by jackie Chan (no longer a NEW mega star, but an authentic one) and Wyatt Earp, who goes by the name of Roy OBannon, played by the new mega star Owen Wilson. The stunt work is not 5 star, but it is still good enough to entertain. This is safe for the family. The bad guy in this one is even better than the three bad guys in SN, maybe because the writers could pile all the badness onto one really great bad guy. This is 3 stars - GOOD. Most people who like Chan and Wilson will enjoy this fun romp.
Rating: Summary: perfect in its own little nifty way Review: Shanghai Knights is a very interesting movie. Of course it could have been better....but come on, it could have been worse. I personally thought it was great just the way it was. It had humor, sword fights, fist fights, and great actors. Now, this movie made me a BIG fan of Aidan Gillen...he's great as Lord Rathbone. Of course Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson are spectacular too-as are the secondary characters. So, see this movie somehow. It's a great watch. (((the DVD is loaded with great extras: deleted scenes, audio commentary from the director and screen writers, a music video entitled "action overload", and a "fight manual"...a great buy)))
Rating: Summary: Jackie 10, Shanghai Knights 1 Review: "Shanghai Noon" was one of the funniest and most spontanious films I have seen in months...... so I had no fear when I ponied up 26 bucks for this sequel, and I could not believe how weak it was. Okay... Chan is just fine, the fighting sequences are classic Chan and inventive, and of course he is charming and humorous. The cinematography is well crafted...... AND yes, there are some very major historic and continuity problems with this film.... First of all if you have any passion for historic recreations in film, you are going to be seriously disturbed by the amount of blunders here.. they are too numerous to mention, and on several websites are on-going discussions of what they were and why they were overlooked. Never mind, the first film had historic mistakes as well.. and one can argue that this IS comedy...... but if you KNOW history, they are going to be distracting and you will miss the action, comedy and excitement of the film. However, my main complaint is the musical "jokes" that pepper the film. We are in Victorian London, England and we hear huge chunks of loud musical clips from pop songs of the 1950s and 60s, like the old Roger Miller tune "England Swings", "Singing in the Rain" (no it is not raining and Jackie is not singing when they play it), "Magic Bus" (no, there is no bus in the scene) and "Winchester Cathedral" which plays loudly in a scene filmed at... get this... "Buckingham Palace"!! There are more, very loud musical "jokes" that totally detract and ruin the mood of the setting, comic moments and the action at hand. The main orchestral score itself is actually well composed and performed, but the added outlandish musical jokes are totally inappropriate and go on far too long to be funny.... and in fact... without them, the movie, in my opinion, would have been a lot more fun and enjoyable. As far as Owen's performance... it was clearly NOT up to the fine job he did in the first film. In "Noon" he was funny, loveable, playful and genuine. In this film he seems distracted, over-directed and less expressive. He also does not look like he is having fun with his character.... it's a walk through for him. My suggestion is to get the first film... its a treasure. Far fetched, yes, but it has charm, comedy, continuity, drama, and loads of action. This new film is a series of jokes and parodies (musical and otherwise) that simply don't hold together or keep a person involved in the continuity... and even the great Jackie Chan can't keep it together alone.
Rating: Summary: Fun From Start To Finish! Review: Jackie Chan has a leg up on most movie stars: He's got such an ingratiating personality that you can't help but love him, even if the film he's in is less-than-spectacular (like The Tuxedo). I mean, even my Mom, who HATES action films in general, and Martial-Arts films in particular, loves Jackie Chan! And that's saying something.... Shanghai Knights is a VAST improvement on it's predecessor Shanghai Noon. Jackie and Owen Wilson re-team as Chon Wang, A.K.A. "John Wayne" The Shanghai Kid & Roy O'Bannon; Chon's Dad is killed as part of a plot to claim the Thrones of China & England, and he heads off to London (with Roy in tow) to rescue his Sister and avenge his Father. (The gorgeous Fann Wong plays Jackie's sister, and gets to kick a fair amount of butt in the film.) The villains are played by Aiden Gillen, who has an astonishing sword-fighting sequence at the end, and the legendary Donnie Yen, who squares off in an all-too-brief fight against Jackie. (That sequence is the only reason I didn't give Knights 5 Stars- Considering that this is the first on-screen fight between these two giants of Martial Arts-Cinema, the fight is over waaaayyy too soon! Here's hoping we get a rematch some day!) The jokes fly fast-and-furious, and there are some very funny and inspired meetings with some real-life historical figures. (Don't read the cast list, or some of the fun will be spoiled!) Wilson and Chan have a very easy rapport, and their chemistry is better this time around. The action sequences are very fluid; There's a real sense of joy that comes through in Jackie's best fight scenes, and Shanghai Knights is a great example. The "Singing in the Rain" homage is just priceless! When I heard they were making a sequel to Shanghai Noon, I was less than thrilled; Now I'm counting the days until part three! (And, as usual, don't miss the outtakes at the end!)
Rating: Summary: Boring Review: This sequel to Shanghai Noon is perhaps one of Jackie Chan's worst movies. The story is a cliche--Jackie has to rescue his sister and avenge his father's death. The twist in this story is that he has to go to England to find the killer. Of couse we have to put up with a lot of bad jokes about English food and stereotypical English gentlemen. I particularly hated the performance of Owen Wilson. I simply can't understand why he keeps getting cast as a comedian. He's definitely not funny at all. To make it worse, the character he plays has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Even Jackie Can is not at his best in this one. The fight scenes aren't as fluid as some of his other recent performances. His age really shows in his fight scenes. If you're craving a recent Jackie Chan film, you should stick with the Rush Hour series. I give this two stars instead of one out of goodwill for Jackie Chan.
Rating: Summary: this movie kicks a$$, seriously Review: This is one of those great action comedies only the best like jakie chan can pull off, this time, their adventure is set in England, where they have to rescue chan's sister, and retrive the emperor's seal from a swordsman with the help of Sir Artur Conan Doyle, creater of the lost world, sherlock holmes and other inmaginary stories, with an all star cast and great action sequence, this movie with keep you hungry for more and rumors on the third flick is "Shanghi Legends" will be finished by Summer of '05.
Rating: Summary: Jackie Chan's Best! Review: Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson return in the sequal to their movie "Shanghai Noon," a movie which I did not like at all, but now they both return with a great sequal and a great movie "Shanghai Knights." What I liked about "Shanghai Knights," what that there was more comedy in this movie and the action scenes used that comedy. Owen Wilson also proves once again that he is a great comedic actor, just like he did with his other great movies "I Spy," "The Royal Tenenbaums." and "The Big Bounce." Jackie Chan also gives us his best role after making decent movies like "The Tuxedo," and "The Medallion." The movie takes place in 1887. Chon Wang(pronounced John Wayne) is the sheriff in carson City Neveda, who has to go to London after learning that his father, the keeper of the Imperial Seal that his family was guarding, has been murdered, and his sister Chon Lin followed the killer to London. He goes to New York to collect his money from his old partner Roy O' Bannon, an ex-cowboy who is getting his "adventures" into best-selling books, written by Sage McAlister. Roy lost the money after a bad investment, and the two escape from trouble that Roy gets into an make it to London. When they make it their they run into Charlie, an young kid who is part of a street gang. After defeating them, they get arrested and meet Artie Doyle, a police inspector for Scotland Yard. Artie is happy that they got rid of the gang, he informs Chon that his sister is in jail after trying to kill Lord Rathbone. Rathbone is the Queen's cousin and is the tenth in line of the throne. He needs the seal for Wu Chan, who wants to use it to gain control of China, while Rathbone uses a new weapon "the machine gun" to become the next in line of the throne. But Chon, and Roy won't have any of that, and set off to stop Rathbone for killing the royal family. Chon also has to deal with the feelings that Roy and Chon Lin have developed towards each other, with comedic recults. "Shanghai Knights" is an action comedy where it cannot compare to the first. There is a huge difference between the goodness of the two movies, and this one comes out on top without a doubt. It was a great movie, that had comedy that is better then movies that are just comedies. Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan work so well off of one another, that you just can't imagine them not having a good time making this movie. ENJOY! Rated PG-13 for action violence and sexual content.
Rating: Summary: A wild comedy with slap-stick humor and one-liners... Review: Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) and Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson) are together once again in this sequel to Shanghai Noon (2000), and this time someone has murdered Chon's father and stolen the Imperial Seal. Together the two heroes travel to England and clues lead them to a person who is in a high position with the Royal family. In order to avenge Chon's father and retrieve the Imperial Seal they have to use subtle finesse and bare knuckles. Shanghai Knights is a wild comedy where slap-stick humor and one-liners are used interchangeably. However, there are moments when the comedy becomes awkward, yet the film leaves the audience with a side-splitting and passable cinematic experience,
|