The
Rush Hour
films were breezy fun and
Shanghai Noon had a lot of charm. A sequel to that film was inevitable and
it's arrived in the shape of Shanghai Knights.
A kung-fu comedy western, Noon introduced us to our heroes, cowardly
wise-ass Roy O'Bannon and high kicking Chon Wang. The formula is the same
as before, with only the setting having changed. Where Noon relied on the
east-west culture clash for its main thrust, Knights transposes the action
to Victorian England and uses British and American differences as its
springboard.
The plot catalyst is the murder, in China, of Wang's father, and the theft
of the Imperial Seal. Learning of his father's death, Wang re-teams with
Roy and the pair head to London to find the killer and re-claim the scroll.
Once there, they get involved in a plot to assassinate the royal family,
while meeting the likes of Jack the Ripper and Arthur Conan Doyle. With
Wang's sister in tow, they wisecrack their way round London while kicking
seven bells out of assorted goons.
The period detail is very good, with Prague standing in for 19th century
London, plus the odd CGI augmented cityscape, some nice and some obvious.
While the action sequences are superb, equally important is the comic
byplay between the two stars. Wilson brightens up every film in which he
appears with his goofy schtik, and he's on his most endearing form here. He
even manages to make an actor out of Chan, as witnessed by some his
exasperated expressions when faced with Roy's antics. It's nice to see
Jackie back on form after the dismal Tuxedo, and he uses his gifts as a
physical comedian to astounding effect.
Some of the biggest treats here are the tributes to silent stars, from
Buster Keaton and the Keystone Cops to Harold Lloyd. There are also a few
moments where, in a similar fashion to
A Knight's Tale,
anachronistic music
is played with the action, such as during a wonderful market fight scene
choreographed to "Singin' In The Rain".
On the downside, Donnie Yen is almost as wasted here as he was in Blade II,
with only a climactic battle showing us what he can bring to the party (see
Iron Monkey for a glimpse of what he can really do, and drool in
anticipation of his upcoming scraps with Jet Li in Hero). And yes, there
are a few too many moments when it looks like they're remaking Indiana
Jones, and yes, the plot is nonsense, but this is easily Jackie Chan's best
American film (or maybe that depends on how you feel about The Cannonball
Run) and positively demands a third instalment.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
