After Shanghai Noon was so successful, it was no surprise when a sequel was made. I recently watched Shanghai Knights, the sequel, again.

In Imperial China, Chon Wang’s father was murdered when the Imperial Seal was stolen. Chon's sister, Chon Lin, witnessed the murder and followed the killer to England. Once Chon found out what happened, he left his job as sheriff in Carson City and headed for England as well. He stopped in New York to see Roy O'Bannon first. Things hadn't gone well for Roy and he decided to go with Chon to London. Roy was attracted to Chon Lin when he met which did add some complications since Chon wasn't happy about that. Chon and Roy stumbled onto a plot that threatened the British royal family.

Shanghai Knights started some time after the end of Shanghai Noon. It wasn’t said for sure how much time had passed though. Chon was well established as the sheriff in Carson City and Roy had been in New York City for a while. He had also managed to become the subject of some adventure novels. Some of the events from the first movie were briefly mentioned. There was one line that explained where Princess Pei Pei was and there was no explanation for what had happened to the Indian woman that Chon had gotten married to in the first movie. This movie did have its own unique plot, so it isn’t absolutely necessary to have seen the previous movie first. That would help to explain why the characters did certain things and make Chon and Roy more developed.

Most of Shanghai Knights took place in England instead of the United States like the first movie. There weren’t all the western elements like there were in the first movie, so some viewers may miss those elements of the movie. Only a few of those things were very briefly shown when Chon was shown in Carson City early in the movie. Some of China was shown as well during the first few minutes of the movie. Moving the setting to England did help to add a new twist to what was going on with the characters while still keeping them true to how they had been established in the first movie. Several actual well known locations, like Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, were used as locations or seen in the backgrounds of scenes. Jack the Ripper was mentioned since Chon and Roy were supposed to be in London when the murders were being committed. There were also several mentions of things connected to Sherlock Holmes as well. I enjoyed those little things being included.

Shanghai Knights contained the same mix of comedy and action that was used in the first movie. Most of the action was provided by the several fights that Chon was involved in throughout the movie. He fought off several enemies by himself more than once, sometimes while using some sort of prop. One of the earlier fight scenes included an entertaining sequence involving a revolving door. Roy usually didn’t do anything during the fight scenes, though he did do some sword fighting at one point. Chon Lin was also very skilled at martial arts and took part in her fair share of the fighting scenes. The fight scenes were well done and helped to keep things interesting. There was also a pillow fight scene that was more fun than violent. Even with the numerous fight scenes, the movie really didn’t seem that violent overall to me.

I think that Roy ended up providing a bit more humor throughout Shanghai Knights than the other characters did. He said and did many things that made me laugh throughout the movie. Chon also did things, even during his fight scenes, that added humor. The fight scene with the revolving door as well as one with an umbrella were pretty funny. Chon and Roy shared several funny moments during the movie. The music used during some scenes contributed to the humor as well. I thought that the humor worked well for the movie. Some of what happened was a bit silly, which could bother some viewers. There were a few scenes that were more serious that did break up all the humor.

Chon and Roy were once again the main characters. Chon had managed to make a happy life for himself in Carson City, but his family in China was still important to him. His relationship with his father had been strained, but he didn’t hesistate to go to England to find the killer. Honor was still very important to Chon. Roy was having some issues with his life that he was trying to deal with while trying to help Chon. Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson were very good in the parts. They had really good chemistry together.

Chon Lin played an important part in the movie even though she really wasn’t that developed. She had just as much family loyalty as her brother and her sense of honor was as strong. She was very good at martial arts and seemed to have some interest in Roy. She was mostly shown fighting and didn’t usually have much to say. Fann Wong was good in the part. Charlie was a young boy who kept turning up and getting pulled into what was going on. Lord Nelson Rathbone and Wu Chow were involved in the plot that Chon and Roy discovered in London. Artie was an inspector at Scotland Yard that became involved in everything as well. None of those characters were developed much, but they still worked for what they had to do in the movie.

Main Cast

Jackie Chan - Chon Wang
Tom Fisher - Artie
Aidan Gillen - Lord Nelson Rathbone
Aaron Johnson - Charlie
Owen Wilson - Roy O’Bannon
Fann Wong - Chon Lin
Donnie Yen - Wu Chow

David Dobkin - Director

DVD Information

I first rented Shanghai Knights after it was released on DVD. Since I enjoyed the movie so much, I eventually picked up a copy of the DVD. The disc only has the widescreen version of the movie and I don’t know if there is a full screen version available. The special features include deleted scenes, a documentary on the fight scenes with Jackie Chan and the director, a few audio commentaries, and something called Action Overload.

I really enjoyed Shanghai Knights and think it is worth watching. People that liked the first movie should give this one a chance. Fans of Chan or Wilson may also enjoy it.

Shanghai Noon ~ Shanghai Knights ~

Jackie Chan Movie Reviews
Around the World in 80 Days ~ The Medallion ~ Rush Hour ~ Rush Hour 2 ~ Rush Hour 3 ~

Owen Wilson Movie Reviews
Around the World in 80 Days ~ Cars ~ Meet the Fockers ~ Night at the Museum ~ Starsky & Hutch ~ Wedding Crashers ~ You, Me and Dupree ~ Zoolander ~

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD