SHANGHAI KNIGHTS
I should've known SHANGHAI KNIGHTS (2003) would be a pile of crap BUT the reviews did say it was better than SHANGHAI NOON (2001) & I am a fan of Jackie Chan's Hong Kong flicks (his American releases like the RUSH HOUR flicks, TUXEDO & SN are all dogs). Not only is SHANGHAI KNIGHTS the worst film of 2003 so far, it is perhaps the worst martial arts film of all time & this is coming from a guy who saw BLACK MASK 2 & it marks a career low for Jackie Chan who is obviously too old to chop the suey anymore. The whole point of a Jackie flick is the fighting & stunts & it is painfully obvious via bad directing & editing that Jackie isn't the one doing the poorly choreographed & lameass fights & stunts.
Jackie's HK flicks were deleriously over the top but fun. SHANGHAI NOON is a mirthless & plodding buddy flick complete with stupid anachronisms (1960s Brit invasion tunes blare from the soundtrack even though it takes place in 1897), lame sight gags that wouldn't make the cut in a Troma release & a complete lack of chemistry between Jackie & the increasingly annoying & one note Owen Wilson. The 2 of them appear to be reading their lines off of billboards a mile away & Wilson looks especially embarassed by the idiotic dialogue he's forces to spew. Just when the movie couldn't get any more non-sensical the "action" grinds to a screeching halt for a massive pillow fight that has absolutley NOTHING to do with the rest of the film.
If you want to have a lot of fun with dopey but fun martial arts flicks check out any of Jackie's HK flicks released between 1983 & 1998 (ie SUPERCOP, PROJECT A, FIRST STRIKE, MR NICE GUY, WHO AM I, THE PRISONER, RUMBLE IN THE BRONX, THE POLICE STORY series, TWIN DRAGONS, OPERATION CONDOR 1 & 2), but pass on any of his US or current releases. They are mirror images of the lousy late 1970s/early 1980s cheapo chop socky flicks that gave the genre such a bad name for so long.