A few years ago, Jackie Chan was well known only to aficionados of martial arts flicks, having garnered marginal box office success in America with such films as "Rumble in the Bronx" and "Who Am I?" Viewers of these films praised his obvious talents, although the comic book plots and poor dubbing left much to be desired. Chan's efforts to popularize himself in America, thus, were stalled.
But then Chan hit upon a novel idea: why not team up with an American comedian and play off the resulting cultural disparities during the interludes between fight sequences? He first teamed up with Chris Tucker in "Rush Hour" and not only soared to the top of the box office but also generated a franchise. His next effort was a hybrid martial arts and Western flick, "Shanghai Noon," where he teamed up with Owen Wilson. This film was equally successful and provided the impetus for "Shanghai Knights."
Now at first glance, Chan's two successful American franchises may not look especially similar. Yet their only true difference is the fact that the "Shanghai" franchise is set in the 1800s. Otherwise, both franchises share a series of striking parallels.
Plot wise, if you disregard the surface details, all these films share the same essential structure: Chan teams up with his American compatriot, bickers with him, and has a falling out that is resolved just in time to stop the villain's wicked scheme. Insert action scene where needed.
"Shanghai Knights" does not deviate from this formula in the least. Chan and Wilson's characters, Chon Wong and Roy O'Bannon, respectively, may venture from the Old West and take their shtick to Victorian London, but that doesn't mean it's really any different. The only new permutation is the addition of Fann Wong as Chon Lin, Wong's sister and Roy's love interest. Still, this mirrors the appearance of Ziyi Zhang ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") in "Rush Hour 2."
The franchises also parallel each other with the devolution of chemistry between the lead characters in each sequel. Both "Rush Hour" and "Shanghai Noon" were occasionally amusing on account of the friction between the two main characters. Tucker certainly was a more bombastic counterweight to the stoic Chan than the easygoing Wilson, but they both developed their own appealing chemistry with Chan.
Sadly, their sequels have the unenviable task of trying to recapture lightning in a bottle. Each sequel suffers from the fact that the lead characters essentially become friends at the end of the previous movie. There is no longer any true tension between the characters but only insipid bickering and contrived melodrama.
For example, in "Knights," Wong gets in an argument with Roy after he tells his sister that Roy would be a bad choice for a boyfriend. Roy mopes and sulks a while over his friend's betrayal, but Wong and Roy finally manage to resolve their differences with a pillow fight. They're not exactly Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy, physically assaulting each other in "48 Hours," are they?
Both "Rush Hour" and "Shanghai Noon" also received criticism for displaying far too little of Chan's martial arts prowess. They did seem to sacrifice martial arts sequences in favor of the comic repartee between the leads, apparently because the producers were afraid of losing crossover appeal. Their sequels thus attempt to compensate for this fault by adding more action sequences. Sadly, these aren't original or particularly exciting scenes. Anyone who has seen part of Chan's earlier oeuvre will find them boringly familiar and recycled.
Perhaps the only difference between "Knights" and the rest of these films is that it adds egregious cuteness and low comedy to the formula.
The filmmakers, for example, attempt to allude to the comparisons that have been made between Chan and Gene Kelly. In one scene Chan does a martial arts sequence with an umbrella in which he eludes his pursuers by gracefully leaping from one set of crates to another. The tribute initially is witty, but the director then decides to forego all subtlety and starts playing "Singin' In the Rain" in the background.
Even worse is the fact that every overdone joke about England and English people also is hauled off the checklist of clichés and paraded before the audience.
Bad teeth: Check.
Bad weather: Check.
Bad movie: Check.
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