To be honest with you, I hate sequels to comedies. They're almost always rehashes.
But every so often, a diamond in the rough comes along. Shanghai Knights is a very fitting sequel. It has energy, unlike many other films the past few years, it has a very "Indiana Jones" style to it. Also different from other comedies: this movie has a plot. :O
The beginning is typical, someone steals something important to set things in motion. As a student of history I found all the little nods at history (Chaplin and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle being main supporting characters, the Chinese Boxers) to be fun, while not always correct. But, when you go see an action comedy, you don't expect historical accuracy, right?
Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson have what most duos don't: chemistry. They work well together, and they play off each other. Wilson's rambling tirades about the differences between America and Britain, and his constant bashing of England are hilarious. The action pieces are top notch, and as I already mentioned, I was pleasantly surprised to find an actual story.
It started off as an action/drama film with a few gags in it, then develops into humor where you're not just amused, you chuckle, then as the film progresses you start laughing out loud. It gets funnier as it goes along, as well as becomes more dramatic.
A great film, immensely entertaining. I give it an eight, simply because it's no Star Wars, LOTR, or Gettysburg, but it's definately better than most of the junk floating around these days, and will most likely find it's way to my small DVD collection (devoid of comedies for the most part, DVDs are expensive, so I only buy movies I really really like, mostly three hour dramas. ;)).
But every so often, a diamond in the rough comes along. Shanghai Knights is a very fitting sequel. It has energy, unlike many other films the past few years, it has a very "Indiana Jones" style to it. Also different from other comedies: this movie has a plot. :O
The beginning is typical, someone steals something important to set things in motion. As a student of history I found all the little nods at history (Chaplin and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle being main supporting characters, the Chinese Boxers) to be fun, while not always correct. But, when you go see an action comedy, you don't expect historical accuracy, right?
Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson have what most duos don't: chemistry. They work well together, and they play off each other. Wilson's rambling tirades about the differences between America and Britain, and his constant bashing of England are hilarious. The action pieces are top notch, and as I already mentioned, I was pleasantly surprised to find an actual story.
It started off as an action/drama film with a few gags in it, then develops into humor where you're not just amused, you chuckle, then as the film progresses you start laughing out loud. It gets funnier as it goes along, as well as becomes more dramatic.
A great film, immensely entertaining. I give it an eight, simply because it's no Star Wars, LOTR, or Gettysburg, but it's definately better than most of the junk floating around these days, and will most likely find it's way to my small DVD collection (devoid of comedies for the most part, DVDs are expensive, so I only buy movies I really really like, mostly three hour dramas. ;)).