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Shanghai Knights - A Review 02/25/2003
Oh no! Oh yes. Chon Wang and Roy O'Bannon are back! Jackie Chan (Rush Hour, Mr. Nice Guy, Who Am I?) and Owen Wilson (Behind Enemy Lines, The Haunting, Armageddon) reprise their roles in the 2000 hit, Shanghai Noon. Directed by David Dobkin (Clay Pigeons, Love Street), our uh, heroes, are looking to avenge the murder of Chon's estranged father in China. Once word reaches Chon of his father's death, he immediately sets off for New York to find his friend, claim part of their money and head to London to find the killer. Along the way, he finds that his sister Chon Lin (played by Hollywood new-comer Fann Wong) has left China and is hunting the killer, too.
Deep, thought-provoking cinema this isn't.
It IS sit-back-and-laugh fun, though. The martial arts, physical slapstick and silly gags carry over from the first film, although the use of wires for some of the fighting scenes is painfully obvious this time (not the wires themselves, just their use). The dialog in the first few scenes between Chan and Wilson seems a bit forced and doesn't flow like the first film. It does loosen up and return to the level of spontaneous fun and hilarity in the original, and once it does, look out!. Let's just say that you'll never think of goats the same way again, I promise!
Visually, the film is quite pleasant. A broad rich color palette is used throughout and the special effects shots blend in very well. Lots of medium- to wide-framed shots are used to show the ongoing and broadly staged action sequences. Close-ups show a good bit of detail without looking grainy.
Audio is active in all channels but fortunately not continuously. Dialog is clear, which helps with Jackie's sometimes thick accent. Ms. Wong is more easily understood (at least to my ears) than he, and Owen Wilson sometimes speaks so quickly it helps to have a good clean dialog track.
Going in, my expectations were for something similar to Shanghai Noon and I wasn't far off. I enjoyed Shanghai Knights although the slow start brought it down below my rating for it's predecessor. Catch a matinee. Sit back with your popcorn and soda, and enjoy the fun.
I give Shanghai Knights :25: out of :5:.
P.S. Once again, one of the highlights is the reel of out-takes during the end credits. It's a great Jackie Chan tradition.
Rating: PG-13 for action violence and sexual content.
Runtime: 97 minutes
Studio: Touchstone
David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker
Oh no! Oh yes. Chon Wang and Roy O'Bannon are back! Jackie Chan (Rush Hour, Mr. Nice Guy, Who Am I?) and Owen Wilson (Behind Enemy Lines, The Haunting, Armageddon) reprise their roles in the 2000 hit, Shanghai Noon. Directed by David Dobkin (Clay Pigeons, Love Street), our uh, heroes, are looking to avenge the murder of Chon's estranged father in China. Once word reaches Chon of his father's death, he immediately sets off for New York to find his friend, claim part of their money and head to London to find the killer. Along the way, he finds that his sister Chon Lin (played by Hollywood new-comer Fann Wong) has left China and is hunting the killer, too.
Deep, thought-provoking cinema this isn't.
It IS sit-back-and-laugh fun, though. The martial arts, physical slapstick and silly gags carry over from the first film, although the use of wires for some of the fighting scenes is painfully obvious this time (not the wires themselves, just their use). The dialog in the first few scenes between Chan and Wilson seems a bit forced and doesn't flow like the first film. It does loosen up and return to the level of spontaneous fun and hilarity in the original, and once it does, look out!. Let's just say that you'll never think of goats the same way again, I promise!Visually, the film is quite pleasant. A broad rich color palette is used throughout and the special effects shots blend in very well. Lots of medium- to wide-framed shots are used to show the ongoing and broadly staged action sequences. Close-ups show a good bit of detail without looking grainy.
Audio is active in all channels but fortunately not continuously. Dialog is clear, which helps with Jackie's sometimes thick accent. Ms. Wong is more easily understood (at least to my ears) than he, and Owen Wilson sometimes speaks so quickly it helps to have a good clean dialog track.
Going in, my expectations were for something similar to Shanghai Noon and I wasn't far off. I enjoyed Shanghai Knights although the slow start brought it down below my rating for it's predecessor. Catch a matinee. Sit back with your popcorn and soda, and enjoy the fun.
I give Shanghai Knights :25: out of :5:.
P.S. Once again, one of the highlights is the reel of out-takes during the end credits. It's a great Jackie Chan tradition.
Rating: PG-13 for action violence and sexual content.
Runtime: 97 minutes
Studio: Touchstone
David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker