Shanghai Knights (2003)

When a Chinese rebel murders Chon's estranged father and escapes to England, Chon and Roy make their way to London with revenge on their minds.

Director:

David Dobkin

Writers:

Alfred Gough (characters), Miles Millar (characters),

Stars:

Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jackie Chan	...	Chon Wang
Owen Wilson	...	Roy O'Bannon
Aaron Taylor-Johnson	...	Charlie Chaplin (as Aaron Johnson)
Tom Fisher	...	Artie Doyle
Aidan Gillen	...	Rathbone
Fann Wong	...	Chon Lin
Donnie Yen	...	Wu Chow
Oliver Cotton	...	Jack the Ripper
Alison King	...	Prostitute
Constantine Gregory	...	The Mayor
Jonathan Harvey	...	Fagin #1
Richard Haas	...	Street Preacher
Anna-Louise Plowman	...	Debutante (as Anna Louise Plowman)
Georgina Chapman	...	Debutante
John Owens	...	Server

Storyline

When a Chinese rebel murders Chon's estranged father and escapes to England, Chon and Roy make their way to London with revenge on their minds. Chon's sister, Lin, has the same idea, and uncovers a worldwide conspiracy to murder the royal family but almost no one will believe her.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | imperial seal | revenge | 1880s | opium | 

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Taglines:

A Royal Kick In The Arse

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for action violence and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Disney Enterprises, Inc [United States]

Country:

USA Hong Kong

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

7 February 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Shanghai Noon 2

Filming Locations:

Action Under Water Studios, Hertford Road, Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$211,484 (Japan) (14 November 2003)

Gross:

$701,287 (Japan) (28 November 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, Birnbaum / Barber Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

David Dobkin was personally chosen by Jackie Chan.

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Goofs

Non-British citizens, such as Chon and Roy, would be not dubbed with a sword when knighted, and would not be given the title "Sir".

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Quotes

[first lines]
Chon Wang's Father: You are not permitted to gaze at the Imperial Seal.

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Crazy Credits

Outtakes from the movie run during the ending credits.

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Connections

References Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

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Soundtracks

"The One I Love Best"
Written by Leroy Shield
Performed by the Beau Hunks
Licensed Courtesy of Basta Music, Holland

User Reviews

Top notch

To be honest with you, I hate sequels to comedies. They're almost always rehashes.

But every so often, a diamond in the rough comes along. Shanghai Knights is a very fitting sequel. It has energy, unlike many other films the past few years, it has a very "Indiana Jones" style to it. Also different from other comedies: this movie has a plot. :O

The beginning is typical, someone steals something important to set things in motion. As a student of history I found all the little nods at history (Chaplin and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle being main supporting characters, the Chinese Boxers) to be fun, while not always correct. But, when you go see an action comedy, you don't expect historical accuracy, right?

Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson have what most duos don't: chemistry. They work well together, and they play off each other. Wilson's rambling tirades about the differences between America and Britain, and his constant bashing of England are hilarious. The action pieces are top notch, and as I already mentioned, I was pleasantly surprised to find an actual story.

It started off as an action/drama film with a few gags in it, then develops into humor where you're not just amused, you chuckle, then as the film progresses you start laughing out loud. It gets funnier as it goes along, as well as becomes more dramatic.

A great film, immensely entertaining. I give it an eight, simply because it's no Star Wars, LOTR, or Gettysburg, but it's definately better than most of the junk floating around these days, and will most likely find it's way to my small DVD collection (devoid of comedies for the most part, DVDs are expensive, so I only buy movies I really really like, mostly three hour dramas. ;)).