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This sequel to the Jackie Chan-Owen Wilson action comedy Shanghai Noon not only offers up more of the goods that had audiences lining up at the box office the first time around; it also manages to be even goofier than its predecessor. Chan stars as John Wayne (the moniker is an Americanized pronunciation of the character’s real name - one of the film’s many genre jokes), a Chinese immigrant in the Old West who ditches his job as a sheriff to avenge the death of his father and recover a stolen Imperial seal. This leads him to reconnect with his old sidekick, Roy O’Bannon (Owen Wilson), who has been using his dime-novel notoriety to hustle women in New York City. The duo heads to Victorian London, where they join forces with Wayne’s kung fu fighter sister (Fann Wong) and end up foiling a nefarious scheme to assassinate the royal family. Shanghai Knights, as its plot suggests, is essentially a live-action cartoon with a candy-colored period setting that recalls Chan’s early masterpieces, Project A I and II. The trio’s escapes lead them to just about every London hot spot, culminating in a climatic showdown at Big Ben, while along the way they encounter famous Brits ranging from Queen Victoria to Jack the Ripper. Throughout it all, of course, are plenty of the spectacular fight scenes, stunts, and set pieces we’ve come to expect in a Jackie Chan movie. As in its predecessor, though, the heart of Shanghai Knights is the rapport between the two stars, with Chan playing straight man to Wilson’s anachronistic California dude persona. The latter is as charming as ever, with his inane, idiosyncratic patter sending up every situation; but Chan, though still agile, looks a bit tired. The truth is, Knights can't fully escape sequel-itis, as the premise wears thin in the later going. Still, the good-natured silliness and bravura action may well leave fans wondering when Chan & Wilson's next Shanghai surprise will come along.

All Movie Guide

East and West team up to take on bad guys in the British Empire in this sequel to the action comedy hit Shanghai Noon. Chon Wang (Jackie Chan), once an Imperial Guard in China, is now the Sheriff of Carson City, NV, while his onetime cohort, former train robber Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson), scrapes together a living writing dime novels based on his adventures and waiting tables in New York City. However, when Wang learns that his father was killed by bandits who broke into the Emperor's palace and stole the Imperial Seal, he's determined to bring the criminals to justice. Wang's sister Lin (Fann Wong) has learned that the killers have escaped to London, so Wang travels to England to meet her, with O'Bannon in tow. As Wang and Lin -- whose martial arts skills rival those of her brother -- look for the culprits, they discover that Lord Rathbone (Aidan Gillen), who is looking to shorten his path of succession to the British throne, is in cahoots with Wu Chan (Donnie Yen), the bastard son of the Chinese Emperor's father, who needs the Imperial Seal as part of his plan to win control of the nation. As Wang and Lin try to get to the bottom of Chan's schemes, O'Bannon finds himself infatuated with his pal's sister. While set in Victorian London, Shanghai Knights was actually filmed on locations in the former Czech Republic, which more closely resembled turn-of-the-century England. Mark Deming

Entertainment Weekly

An action-comedy sequel so indefatigably preposterous and farklemt -- as they say in certain Upper West Side saloons -- that it actually improves on the original. Lisa Schwarzbaum

Village Voice

It's a merry surfeit, lofted by calisthenic wow above the usual level for late-era Jackie and Wilson's mellow-gold delivery. Ed Park

New York Times

With Shanghai Knights, [Chan] has come through with one of his best. Elvis Mitchell

Washington Post

Jackie Chan's Shanghai Knights is certainly one of the best of his English-language pictures. Stephen Hunter

Product Details

• UPC: 786936214932
• Source: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Français
• Subtitles: Español
• Time: 1:54:00
• Sales Rank: 18,896

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Shanghai Noon & Shanghai Knights (2pc)

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