Shanghai Knights

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Movie
German title Shanghai Knights
Original title Shanghai Knights
Country of production USA
Hong Kong
original language English
Chinese
Publishing year 2003
length 110 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
JMK 6
Rod
Director David Dobkin
script Alfred Gough
Miles Millar
production Jackie Chan
Gary Barber
Roger Birnbaum
Jonathan Glickman
music Randy Edelman
camera Adrian Biddle
Harvey Harrison
cut Malcolm Campbell
occupation
chronology

←  Predecessor
Shang-High Noon

Shanghai Knights is a cinematic genre mix of martial arts comedy and buddy movie from 2003. It was created as a sequel to the hit film Shang-High Noon .

action

Beijing , 1887: In the heart of the Forbidden City , boxers led by the British Lord Nelson Rathbone kidnap the imperial seal - the embodiment of the power of the Manchu emperors - and kill its guardians. Lying dying, he asks his daughter Chon Lin to visit her brother Chon Wang in America to look for his murderer together.

Chon receives a letter from his sister and immediately sets off from the west for New York City , where his friend and partner Roy O'Bannon works and manages their mutual money (more badly than right), and asks him for help. Together they set off for England , where Lin has followed Rathbone's trail. But in Victorian London, both quickly realize that its power extends far. However, the three find support in the bizarre but unshakable Scotland Yard inspector Artie and the smart orphan boy Charlie Chaplin . In this way they can uncover a plot between Rathbone and Wu Chao, the illegitimate brother of the Chinese emperor, which is said to benefit both men: Chao receives the seal in order to unite the emperor's enemies, storm the Forbidden City and usurp control over China can. In return, Wu Chao wants to help Lord Rathbone, who is tenth in line to the English throne , to become King of England by murdering the previous nine members of the royal family.

With united forces they succeed in preventing the assassination attempt, eliminating the conspirators and saving the royal rulers of both countries from death. Chon Wang is finally reassured that he has been recognized by his father, and Roy wins over Lin, whom he fell in love with.

At the end of the film, Chon, Roy and Arthur are made knights by the Queen of England for their services.

criticism

“Elaborately equipped and quoted Jackie Chan action comedy without any real highlights, which even does not know how to add new highlights to the fight choreographies. After all, the actors' joy in playing is convincing. "

- Lexicon of international film

“'Shanghai Knights' is a nostalgic delight in its refreshing innocence. With weird gags and perfectly choreographed beatings in which revolving doors, umbrellas and many other utensils are cleverly used. And not the slightest hint of cynicism far and wide! Simply feel-good action. "

- Cinema

useful information

The film was made in several places. It was mainly filmed in the Czech Republic , in the Barrandov Studios , in Prague as a backdrop for Victorian England and in Karlsbad . Other locations were Great Britain and Calgary in Canada .

Chan once again pays homages to classic films in his action pieces. During the fight against the ruffians in the market, he fiddled with umbrellas and dances with the dance moves of Gene Kelly to the music of Singin 'in the Rain . The climbing on the tower that houses Big Ben is reminiscent of the Harold Lloyd classic Skyscrapers, of all things ! (or his own bow to this scene in Project A ). When Chon Wang tries to cheer Roy up by smashing a bottle on his head, it corresponds to a scene by John Belushi in Animal House .

The character of Lord Rathbone is said to remind of the great British actor Basil Rathbone . He played the title role in several Sherlock Holmes films and was considered one of the best fencers of his time. The character of Lord Rathbone is also described as such.

In the final battle, when Lord Rathbone and Chon fight each other, Rathbone uses exotic martial arts techniques as well as movements from epee , saber and foil fencing . Jackie Chan , who plays the chon, used some techniques from Wushu during the fight that are actually carried out with the Chinese Jian or Dao .

Gemma Jones , who played Queen Victoria, was best known as the mother of Renée Zellweger in Bridget Jones - Chocolate for Breakfast .

In several scenes there are fictional cross-references according to which Chon and Roy Arthur Conan Doyle inspired his character Sherlock Holmes . At Rathbone's reception, Roy invents the name off the cuff from the inscription on a grandfather clock. When both appear disguised in front of Artie's door on the run, their silhouettes on the window of the door look like the profiles of Holmes and Doctor Watson.

During the crossing to England, Roy Chon talks about his future family planning. Among other things, his children are said to be Vera, Chuck and Dave. This is how Paul McCartney names his imaginary grandchildren in his song When I'm Sixty-Four . (Quote " grand-children on your knee, Vera, Chuck and Dave ")

The setting of England in 1887 enables cleverly built-in appearances of the following historical personalities as well as almost classically clichéd sights and typical British behavior. These include:

There are some anachronisms in the film :

  • Chon's father is killed by members of the boxer movement , which, however, only came into being in the following decade.
  • Charlie Chaplin, born in 1889, appears in the film.
  • Roy brags about investing money in developing zeppelins . However, it was not until the 1890s that Graf von Zeppelin began seriously building his own airships. In any case, the issue of the first Zeppelin shares did not take place before 1898.
  • Artie mentions Jack The Ripper as a newspaper sensation. The first of the murders that earned him this nickname was committed in 1888. However, the scene still takes place in 1887, before Queen Victoria's fiftieth anniversary of the throne.
  • When Roy and Chon walk into Rathbone's reception, a string quartet plays a classic version of the Rolling Stones hit Paint It Black in the background .
  • Roy plans to invest money in moving images in California towards the end of the film . However, the film industry did not settle in Hollywood until the beginning of the 20th century and was previously concentrated on the east coast of the United States.
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a Scotland Yard inspector in the film. Historically, he was a doctor before he could live off his works in 1891.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Shanghai Knights . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , October 2003 (PDF; test number: 95 778 K).
  2. ↑ Age rating for Shanghai Knights . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ↑ Shanghai Knights. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ↑ cinema.de