“Shanghai Knights”, starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, tells the story of two close but very different buddies who find themselves involved in an exciting and often humorous adventure. Never heard that premise before, right? Let’s face it. Buddy pictures are a dime a dozen in Hollywood. “Knights” makes no real effort to escape the standard unlikely-heroes-team-up-to-foil-nasty-villain storyline found in virtually every movie like it.
Strangely enough, it works. Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson reprise their roles as Chon Wang (Chan) and Roy O’Bannon (Wilson) from “Shanghai Noon”. Despite the cookie cutter roles, both actors play their characters with humorous zeal and the chemistry between the characters is enjoyable. Added to the cast is the delightful presence of Hong Kong actress Fann Wong as Chon Wang’s sister Chon Lin. Wong does an excellent job with her stunts and actually delivers her lines a bit better than the sometimes awkward Chan.
The plot of “Knights” is standard fare. Chon Wang hears that his father has been murdered and his sister, Lin, has traveled to England to pursue the killer and retrieve a stolen royal seal. Chon then reunites with his old friend Roy O’Bannon to retrieve his share of a fortune in gold. Although Roy has squandered the money, the duo manage to smuggle themselves to England. After finding Lin, they stumble on a plot to place the evil Rathbone (Aiden Gillen) on the throne. Rathbone, a distant part of the royal family, plans to kill the other royals with the help of Wu Yip (Donnie Yen), an illegitimate heir to the Emperor of China.
The biggest selling point for “Knights” is the action. Chan performs with his standard comical style. However, if you have seen several Jackie Chan movies you probably will not see anything new in “Shanghai Knights”. Owen Wilson does a passable job as a western brawler but the film (wisely) never tries to make him the star of the action.
There are a few flaws with “Shanghai Knights”. The plot is weak at best and the characters are hardly original. Anyone with a basic knowledge of history will likely be able to point out many flaws and anachronisms in the film. Roy O’Bannon (Wilson) acts too much like a modern man to make a believable cowboy. A great deal of the film’s verbal humor relies on the type of so-that’s-how-it-happened jokes seen in films like “Forrest Gump”.
Unfortunately, “Knights” stretches believability too far. Roy uses the false name of Sherlock Holmes while talking to a detective who just happens to be Arthur Conan Doyle. Roy and Wang discuss the merits of action and comedy in the new “moving pictures.” While the humor should be taken with a grain of salt, it becomes a little too cheesy in parts.
Final Rating: 7 out of 10
“Shanghai Knights” is a fun action comedy but do not expect any real intelligence or originality out of it. Sticklers for historical accuracy should stay far away.