Stephen Orr
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Mar 14, 1999
- Messages
- 1,099
Could not find a thread on this yet, so here you go.
My wife and I just got back from a free sneak preview of the new Jackie Chan/Owen Wilson comedy adventure "Shanghai Knights." Our local base theaters (we have two in our area now) are showing it this weekend.
My face is still sore from laughing for almost two straight hours. Overall, Shanghai Knights has much more sustained action and humor than its predecessor, "Noon" (which we own on DVD and love to watch.)
As the film opens, Chon is still a western sheriff with an outstanding arrest record, while Roy has moved to New York to seek his fortune as the hero in a pulp action book called "Roy O'Bannon verses the Mummy." The two reunite when Chon's father is murdered in China, and Chon's sister pursues the killers to London. She asks for her brother's assistance, and when the two heroes from America arrive in Jolly Old England, they uncover a plot that could affect both the Emperor of China and the royal family of England. Along the way, they encounter a few historical figures, including a street urchin destined to become a silent film comedian, and a Scotland Yard inspector who'd rather be writing than deducing!
Kudos to the producers and writers for taking Chon and Roy in a completely different direction with "Knights." The fights are more elaborately and entertainingly staged, especially a street fight involving an umbrella and some fancy dance steps that intentionally recall Gene Kelly. There's a rotating wall gag that recalls about a million Abbott and Costello movies. There are two "final" fights, the first involving a runaway gatling gun. At the end of that fight, the audience we saw it with was cheering and applauding. The other involves a spectacular sword fight among the inner workings of Big Ben. Again, just incredible, the best stuff I've seen from Jackie in a while.
Jackie is excellent, as usual, although I thought that some of Owen's shtick was a little awkward and just a little too silly. Overall, though, I was grinning from ear to ear with most of the dialog.
The young lady playing Chon's sister, Fann Wong, is a discovery, and fights just about as good as Jackie. Donnie Yen adds an appropriate amount of menace as the Asian side of the dual threat to the Emperor and the Royal Throne. Aidian Gillen, the English lord who's either 10th or 20th in line for the throne, depending on who you ask, is very hissable as the other villian.
"Knights" has a lot more hits than misses, and one of the absolutely flat-out funniest scenes begins as a repeat of the "Roy's unconcious and is surrounded by beautiful women" sequence from the first movie. The other has to do with a pillow fight that is just plain goofy/silly, but much in keeping with the "make 'em laugh" motto of this flick (similar in intent to the drinking game/bathtub scene of the first film.)
There was a lot of 60's pop and rock music in the soundtrack, but guess what -- I think it added to the charm and spirit of the movie, rather than distracted from it.
The end of the film is left wide open for a sequel -- as a matter of fact, Roy practically suggests an idea of what could become "Shanghai Dawn," a title I've read would be the follow-up if "Knights" does well (as I think it should, and will!)
I'd go see this again in a heartbeat. It's silly, funny, exciting and totally entertaining -- and a terrific follow-up to "Shanghai Noon."
My wife and I just got back from a free sneak preview of the new Jackie Chan/Owen Wilson comedy adventure "Shanghai Knights." Our local base theaters (we have two in our area now) are showing it this weekend.
My face is still sore from laughing for almost two straight hours. Overall, Shanghai Knights has much more sustained action and humor than its predecessor, "Noon" (which we own on DVD and love to watch.)
As the film opens, Chon is still a western sheriff with an outstanding arrest record, while Roy has moved to New York to seek his fortune as the hero in a pulp action book called "Roy O'Bannon verses the Mummy." The two reunite when Chon's father is murdered in China, and Chon's sister pursues the killers to London. She asks for her brother's assistance, and when the two heroes from America arrive in Jolly Old England, they uncover a plot that could affect both the Emperor of China and the royal family of England. Along the way, they encounter a few historical figures, including a street urchin destined to become a silent film comedian, and a Scotland Yard inspector who'd rather be writing than deducing!
Kudos to the producers and writers for taking Chon and Roy in a completely different direction with "Knights." The fights are more elaborately and entertainingly staged, especially a street fight involving an umbrella and some fancy dance steps that intentionally recall Gene Kelly. There's a rotating wall gag that recalls about a million Abbott and Costello movies. There are two "final" fights, the first involving a runaway gatling gun. At the end of that fight, the audience we saw it with was cheering and applauding. The other involves a spectacular sword fight among the inner workings of Big Ben. Again, just incredible, the best stuff I've seen from Jackie in a while.
Jackie is excellent, as usual, although I thought that some of Owen's shtick was a little awkward and just a little too silly. Overall, though, I was grinning from ear to ear with most of the dialog.
The young lady playing Chon's sister, Fann Wong, is a discovery, and fights just about as good as Jackie. Donnie Yen adds an appropriate amount of menace as the Asian side of the dual threat to the Emperor and the Royal Throne. Aidian Gillen, the English lord who's either 10th or 20th in line for the throne, depending on who you ask, is very hissable as the other villian.
"Knights" has a lot more hits than misses, and one of the absolutely flat-out funniest scenes begins as a repeat of the "Roy's unconcious and is surrounded by beautiful women" sequence from the first movie. The other has to do with a pillow fight that is just plain goofy/silly, but much in keeping with the "make 'em laugh" motto of this flick (similar in intent to the drinking game/bathtub scene of the first film.)
There was a lot of 60's pop and rock music in the soundtrack, but guess what -- I think it added to the charm and spirit of the movie, rather than distracted from it.
The end of the film is left wide open for a sequel -- as a matter of fact, Roy practically suggests an idea of what could become "Shanghai Dawn," a title I've read would be the follow-up if "Knights" does well (as I think it should, and will!)
I'd go see this again in a heartbeat. It's silly, funny, exciting and totally entertaining -- and a terrific follow-up to "Shanghai Noon."