SHANGHAI KNIGHTS
© 2003 Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Mania Grade: B+
Disc Grade: B+
Reviewed Format: DVD
Rated: PG-13
Stars: Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, Donnie Yen, Aiden Gillen, Fann Wong, Tom Fisher
Writers: Alfred Gough & Miles Millar
Director: David Dobkin
Distributor: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Original Year of Release: 2003
Retail Price: $29.98
Extras: widescreen anamorphic; Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX; featurettes; deleted scenes; two commentary tracks; trailers; musical action compilation; French language track; Spanish subtitles
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SHANGHAI KNIGHTS

The sequel to the hit action comedy SHANGHAI NOON finds Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) now the sheriff of Carson City when he hears via a message from his sister Lin (Singapore TV star Fann Wong) that his father has been murdered by thieves, who've stolen the Emperor's Royal Seal. He heads off for New York to pick up funds left with his NOON partner Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson) to finance a trip to London to recover the Seal from the thieves, restoring the family honor. Despite the fact that roguish Roy has frittered away their fortune, the boys make their way to England and with Lin's help uncover a plot by powerful villains from both Britain and China to sell out both countries for their personal gain.

While the RUSH HOUR pictures are basically buddy action comedies that give Jackie Chan a chance to juxtapose his gifts for physical conflict, stunts and comedy against a natural vocal comic, the SHANGHAI pictures take that formula and add on a whimsical approach to a period setting. Thus, we get Chan doing his stuff through a series of wonderfully choreographed fight scenes in London docks, wax museums, and inside Big Ben. Plus there's a fight among vases that inverts the idea of one in RUSH HOUR. As for Wilson, he continues to delight by making funny lines sound like ad libs, and make actual ad libs sound even funnier both leads are incredibly charming throughout the film. Callbacks to the first film (as well as to others) abound, such as when the boys spend another night in a bordello, and one overhears the other betraying him, Roy and Wang in a jail cell, etc.

Basically, these movies are the modern action equivalents of the Hope & Crosby ROAD pictures, light and breezy entertainment with just a bit of pathos between the characters to let you care about their place within the plot. Other than that, an impressive job is done by the crew to recreate the era, even as the script is undermining their efforts. Machine guns and autos in 1875? The anachronisms are made part of the fun, pushed over the top by a soundtrack full of British Invasion hits. The historical inaccuracies only bother you if you know about them... and if you let them.

The film's only real disappointment for martial arts fans is that Chan's big fight with Donnie Yen is severely edited to quicken the pace of the ending. DVD to the rescue! The disc includes the full length fight (4:49), plus three others that were abbreviated in the final cut, and seven deleted scenes. A 9-minute interview/clip sequence with Chan and director David Dobkin goes behind-the-scenes on the subject of fight choreography. A brief (1:10) sequence of clips titled "Action Overload" just makes action bits look like a vintage silent movie, and is frankly a waste of time.

The feature can be accompanied by a commentrak by Dobkin, who talks intelligently about how this came to be his second feature (after the well-received CLAY PIGEONS), and his approach to handling a sequel. He also points out as many historical inaccuracies as he can spot, and reveals that he had walking pneumonia through much of the shoot. A second commentrak allows writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar their turn at the microphone, and they prove themselves equally forthcoming about their role in the project, their intentions, and how well they scored in the final release.

Now, on to SHANGHAI DAWN (or whatever).