Even after the severe beating administered to Jackie Chan for his role in "The Tuxedo," the scrappy master is back and ready to take on the entire English army.
It's always good to see a classic Hollywood convention shattered. Case in point: sequels are supposed to suck. Hypothetically speaking, they are usually no more than a rehashing of the same tried and true, moneymaking jokes that made the original a success -- think "Men In Black II."
Fortunately for Jackie Chan, who plays Chon Wang, and co-star Owen Wilson, who plays Roy O'Bannon, their new movie "Shanghai Knights" -- a.k.a "Shanghai Noon II" -- is not just a tired attempt to use up the last bit of fuel left from their original teaming. With a combination of hilarious, not to mention spectacular, fight scenes and genuinely funny, if not a little contrived, humor, the Wild West duo strikes gold in jolly Ol' England.
The movie opens with the death of Wang's father at the hands of the evil Lord Rathbone, played by Aidan Gillen. This opening sequence is exceptional, it manages to introduce the villain, give some deep background into the Wang family and even show how much ass kicking his little sister Chon Lin, played by Fann Wong, could administer to a gang of evil ninjas in hand-to-hand combat.
Part of what made the original such a success was the on-camera chemistry between the two unsuspecting heroes. While neither Chan nor Wilson have ever been considered outstanding actors, they shine like the yellow glint off an Englishman's teeth when they work together.
The casting is impeccable and the addition of Wong, Thomas Fisher as Artie Doyle and Gillian to the cast, this budding franchise gets even stronger.
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While the comedy is a little lowbrow at times, using English food, dental hygiene and the American Revolution as fodder for many of the jokes, it consistently works. Probably the most notable feature of this film is how well the fights fused with the comedy.
But really, what can be said about Chan's on-screen fight scenes that hasn't been said a million times already?
This time around, the choreography is, again, excellent. While hard-hitting action is found in plenty, there is also a very well applied layer of satire in many of the intricate fights that ranges from all out brawls and eye-popping sword play to a nice bit of fanciful umbrella work. This may well be one of Chan's greatest accomplishments in American cinema.
One of the strangest things about this flick was how it worked plot wise. Many recent additions to the action movie genre have been no more than excesses to show off a bit of choreographed mayhem, plot be damned.
"Shanghai Knights" does not fit into this growing category. From start to finish a major emphasis was put on the plot with action sequences used almost exclusively for plot advancement.
All in all, the highest recommendation is placed on this movie. While some people may be offended by some of the humor the fact of the matter is, we kicked the English's asses in the American Revolution and they just need to deal with it.
