Shanghai Knights is much better than expected. I’m a fan of both Jackie Chan & Owen Wilson. Most of the action takes place in London. This was very funny and well done, IMHO.
http://bventertainment.go.com/movies/shanghaiknights/index2.html
I went and saw the first showing (and got a nifty poster for my efforts) with my brother and the both of us absolutely loved the movie. I know we weren’t alone because the entire theatre would errupt on a fairly regular basis.
Even the reviews were fairly positive which is tougher for a comedy than any other genre (or at least I"ve noticed).
Ebert or Roeper said that “it’s about as concerned with historical accuracy as Bill and Teds excellent Adventure but that doesn’t matter because it’s funny as hell”
Ebert and Roepers review isn’t on the web yet so I may have got that quote a little wrong but you get the idea. It sums up what I would say nicely.
I think they could have done a lot more with a Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen fight scene. A lot more. Ah well, it still had the best choreography of any American Jackie Chan film so far, and a director that let us see them.
Definately funny although I could have used less of a sledgehammer on some of the jokes. I got the “singing in the rain” thing without the music, thank you very much. It was those kind of things that left with mixed feeling about the whole movie, though I loved it in parts.
First off, I LOVE anything and everything Jackie Chan.
I feel like they made Owen Wilson’s character more annoying and stupid than funny, I can’t say I liked him. The same thing happened with Rush Hour 2 and Chris Tucker. Seemed like they tried too hard to duplicate the humor of the first movie.
Overall though, it was definitely a great movie. I was laughing a lot, the fight scenes were excellent, and Fann Wong (plays his sister) kicks ass.
Oh, and the bad guy played a great bad guy. I really hated and admired him.
i thought it was cool. Donnie Yen rocked, Fann Wong looked hotter than i had ever seen her before (and kicked butt), and some of the fight scenes were better than anything i’ve seen Chan do in 5 years or so. (The umbrella battle, the swordfight, the Donnie Yen fight). The only thing i found annoying was the hitting you over the head on who the random people who were really famous people were.
I saw SK last night. Admittedly, i had high expectations, and i was not dissapointed. The jokes were more obvious, but they were just as funny. i also think that everyone is being to hard on the singing in the rain part…It seemed to me that it was more of a spoof than Shanghai noon… more like a Austin powers movie, which is not a bad thing. and Fann Wong…wow… she is beautiful…
Saw it last night. The pacing was awful and overall the movie just had this really awkward feel to it. Still, made me laugh a lot so no complaints.
Owen Wilson carried it (“All you need to know is that there are bad men after me and I’m in the right”). Jackie Chan didn’t have enough fight scenes, although the umbrella battle was poetic and amazing. I liked him better in Rush Hour 2.
Oh yeah, is there anything worse than a shitty Cockney accent?
Obscure bonus… one of the prostitutes in the cathouse scene with a speaking part was the super sexy actress who played Jeff’s love interest in the hilarious Coupling episode where Jeff tells a woman he has a wooden leg.
-fh
I loved it- it cracked me up and I loved the fight scenes. Also, you know how Owen Wilson has that throaty murmery voice? He desparately wants to whisper sweet nothings in my ear. Or other available orifices, I’ve heard.
I enjoyed it a lot. It approached the line separating funny from cheesy quite a bit, but overall I think they did a good job. The fight scenes were well done and also quite funny - especially the one in the treasure room.
Still, for good Jackie Chan fights, you can’t beat “Legend of Drunken Master,” IMHO.
Mrs. Gelding and I were in London last summer and went out to the Naval College at Greenwich to see the Cutty Stark and the museum. We could not see much of the grounds because they were shooting some movie–all sorts of horses and carriages and wagons and people in mid-Victorian clothing and “do not pass” tapes all over the place. At a distance we watched a scene rehearse and shoot again and again and again. In the scene some white guy and some Chinese guy come out of the door of the College and walk up to some guy in the street and they talk with all sorts of street traffic going by. The sign said “Shanghai Knights.” I figured it was a take off on Boogie Nights but couldn’t figure why the government was allowing a porn shoot on the college grounds. Things sure have changed since Margaret Thatcher.
I am most relieved to find out what it really was.
Saw it Saturday. Not a great movie, but the jokes hit more often than not and the action was pretty good. Doubt I’d see it a second time.
The anachronistic British Invasion soundtrack. Owen Wilson’s anachronistic postmodernist reflections. The semi-anachronistic name-dropping. Hell, anachronisms are always funny, and this movie was funny as hell. Kudos to the screenwriters! It was funnier than Shanghai Noon. Something about those Brits…
“It’s like ass-soup over there.”
I saw it Friday night, and thought it was hilarious. I wish that Jackie Chan’s fight sequences weren’t so edited though…I miss the stuff in his old movies. One long camera shot of him, head to toe, jumping, dodging, weaving, leaping, falling, and kicking butt…THAT took skill.