Shanghai Knights is a 2003 martial arts action comedy. It is directed by David Dobkin from a script by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar and stars Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, Donnie Yen, and Aidan Gillen.
Synopsis[]
Six years after meeting in the west, Chon Wang and Roy O'Bannon travel to England in search of a Chinese rebel that murdered Wang's father.
Plot[]
In 1887 Forbidden City, China, Chon Lin, younger sister to Chon Wang, is with their father who, despite being told that Chon is doing well, is met with disinterest from their patriarch. They are suddenly attacked by the Boxers who are lead by Lord Nelson Rathbone, tenth in line to the British throne. He steals the royal seal and kills the father. As Lin vows revenge, her father leaves her a box which he orders to send to her brother.
Back in Nevada, Chon has become successful in cleaning up Carson City with his new deputy who has become hooked on adventure novels about Roy O'Bannon, written by an author named Sage McCallister, later revealed to be Roy himself. The books tell fictitious tales about Roy who uncharacteristically depict Chon as his hapless sidekick. Chon is especially saddened as Pei-Pei has chosen to continue her equality efforts in Los Angeles and he has not seen her in a long time. Chon gets the box from Lin and learns of his father's death. Realizing that he needs to travel to London, England, where Lin has traced the murderer, Chon decides to go get Roy in New York City.
In New York City, Chon learns that Roy, who does not appear to be married as he previously believed, is now working as a waiter, doubling as a gigolo, at a hotel. The gold that he had accrued from their last adventure was invested into zeppelins, leaving him on hard times and aimless. Nevertheless, the two happily reunite and Roy decides to help Chon get passage to London. After running afoul of the Mayor of New York and the police, the two manage to escape with their lives and get on a boat. Chon reveals his goal and motive as well as the box that his father gave him. Roy agrees to continue the journey with him out of gratitude.
Upon arriving in London, they immediately run into a small street urchin named Charlie Chaplin who steals Roy's watch. They run into a street gang where Chon makes short work of them. As they are brought in by Scotland Yard, they are met with Inspector Arthur "Artie" Doyle who displays deductive reasoning skills that are impressive. He reveals that Lin was arrested in an attempt to murder Lord Rathbone and has been dubbed "Looney Lin" by the public. Roy immediately falls in love with her, disgusting Chon. The only way to free her is if they find the seal and prove that Rathbone murdered their father.
As Chon and Roy wander about London, they run into Charlie again who takes them to his rather impressive hideout. They resolve to find answers at a royal gala that Rathbone is attending and disguise themselves with Roy as "Marshal Sherlock Holmes" and Chon as the "Maharaja of Nevada". They sneak in and manage to tail Rathbone into a library only for him to disappear. Chon ends up fighting the Boxers and trained guards, but is aided by Lin who managed to escape prison after Roy had given her his lucky card deck. They find that the seal is not in its container, but find Rathbone.
Rathbone is in league with Wu Chow, the brother of the Emperor of China. Rathbone plans to help Chow become the new emperor, in exchange, he will help kill off the rest of the royal family so that he can become King of England. Chon, Roy, and Lin battle Rathbone in a stable, but he escapes and sets the place on fire. Charlie escapes with the seal while Lin also makes it out through a skylight. Chon and Roy take an automobile and escape the burning stable, only to ride off into the country side and crash into Stonehenge. The next morning, the two are picked up by Lin who managed to acquire a horse and buggy.
Rathbone fires Artie for his incompetence while Chon, Roy, and Lin stop at a brothel. Roy comes clean about his feelings for Lin, but Chon does not take him seriously. Chon warns Lin, who has also started developing feelings for Roy, about him and the two have a falling out with Roy upset that Chon spoke ill of him. Chon makes it up to him by instigating a pillow fight with the women at the brothel. Lin walks in on the two and leaves, angrily kicking Jack the Ripper into the ravine. Just as Chon and Roy catch up to her, they are captured by Rathbone, Chow, and the Boxers.
Still in need of the seal, Rathbone and Chow threaten Lin's life, hoping to use her to pin the eventual murder of the royal family, with the use of their latest invention: a machine gun. Chon and Roy escape drowning and flee to the recently fired Artie's house. Having hung onto Charlie's hat, they have Artie use his deductive reasoning to find where he is staying: Madame Tussauds wax museum. They manage to find the seal, but when Charlie's life is threatened by the Boxers, they are forced to give it up. Charlie later helps Chon, Roy, and Artie when they are arrested as thanks.
The group head to the royal palace as fireworks are being used for a massive celebration. Realizing that this is where they plan to murder the royal family, Roy and Artie go after Rathbone while Chon rescues Lin from Chow. They manage to ruin the planned murder as Chon and Chow battle, ending with Lin using a firecracker to blow up Chow. A defeated Rathbone attempts to flee, only managing to shoot Artie in the shoulder. Roy and Chon give chase to the top of Big Ben where Roy gets tossed out the window and left dangling on the clock's hands. Chon and Rathbone fight with swords, ending with Chon slicing the support ropes and sending Rathbone falling to his doom. Chon and Roy then use a flag to fall gracefully into the Queen's carriage.
For their heroic efforts, the Queen knights Chon, Roy, and Artie who rather than going back to police work, which was his father's dream, decides he wants to pursue a career in writing, using the fake name that Roy used for his disguise for his lead detective character. He offers to take the seal back to China as an escort. Chon finally opens the box from his father which reveals a stone that explains that he is proud of the man he has become. Roy and Lin pursue a relationship and the two along with Chon decide to head back to America. Roy offers that they head to Los Angeles for their next upstart venture: moving pictures. Chon agrees, unaware that Charlie has stowed away with them.
Cast[]
- Jackie Chan as Chon Wang
- Owen Wilson as Roy O'Bannon
- Donnie Yen as Wu Chow
- Aidan Gillen as Lord Nelson Rathbone
- Fann Wong as Chon Lin
- Tom Fisher as Arthur "Artie" Doyle
- Kim Chan as Chon Wang and Chon Lin's Father
- Gemma Jones as Queen Victoria
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Charlie Chaplin
- Oliver Cotton as Jack the Ripper
- Tom Wu as "Lead Boxer" Liu
- Kelly-Marie Kerr as Clara
- Constantine Gregory as the Mayor of New York City
- Ray Donn as Chinese villager (uncredited)
- Barbara Nedeljáková as Debutante
- Anna-Louise Plowman as Debutante
- Georgina Chapman as Debutante
- Daisy Beaumont as Cigarette girl
- Alison King as Prostitute
- Matt Hill as Deputy
- Barry Stanton as Lord Chancellor
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Despite Charlie Chaplin being a character in the film, the movie is set two years before his birth.
- The main antagonists are identified as the Boxer movement. However, the Boxers would not come into existence until 1899, a little over a decade after the film's events.
- Jack the Ripper appears in this film. His actions actually wouldn't become publicly known for another year after the events of the film.
- Rathbone states that the machine gun is their latest invention. However, the first known machine gun was supposedly invented in 1862, nearly two decades before the events of the film.
- While automobiles were just introduced one year before the events of the film, the particular model that Rathbone owns is actually a 1909 Mercedes which, as its name implies, wouldn't come into existence for nearly two decades.
- As is tradition with Jackie Chan features, the film ends with outtakes.
Cancelled third film[]
A third film, titled Shanghai Dawn, had long been discussed since 2015 with MGM. Jared Hess was set to direct with Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan returning. The original premise would have featured Chon Wang and Roy O'Bannon going to China, but this story was dropped. The new plot would have picked up where the last one left off with Chon working in Hollywood when he hears that Roy is in Mexico, having joined the revolutionaries. Co-writer Alfred Gough revealed in late 2024, that the movie was no longer happening due to Chan having lost interest in the project.
