Roy O’Bannon (Owen Wilson) joins Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) in going to London to find his sister (Fann Wong) and avenge his father’s murder. Together they must stop the killer and his cohort (Donnie Yen) from assassinating the royal family.

Jackie Chan returns to form by re-teaming with quirky funnyman Owen Wilson and takes on kung fu master Donnie Yen (Iron Monkey). The filmmakers ratchet up the action and manage to duplicate the formula that proved a modest success for Shanghai Noon. Shanghai Knights is solidly entertaining fare that coasts through very familiar territory, struggling with the humor, but delivers some of Jackie’s best choreography in recent years.

The story to this sequel is fairly lightweight, reinforcing the film’s pulp adventure qualities akin to the likes of The Mummy Returns (2001). In the 1880′s, Chon Wang’s (Jackie Chan) father is murdered while protecting a royal jewel that represents the ruling power in China. In the Western U.S., Wang gets word from his sister Lin (Fann Wong) who has tracked the killer to England. Recruiting his old pal Roy O’Bannon (Owen Wilson) in New York, Wang goes to help Lin. The pair finds Lin in prison and learns that the killer is Rathbone (Aiden Gillen), a distant relative of the Queen of England who is plotting to kill the royal family and take the throne for himself. Helping him is Wu Yip (Donnie Yen), an outcast from China’s Forbidden City who himself plots to use the stolen seal to become Emperor of China. While encountering several famous personages from England’s past, Roy and Wang thwart a gang of pickpockets, crash a high society party, run an early model automobile into Stonehenge, pillow fight in a brothel, and hang out together on the minute hand of Big Ben. All of this to save the royal family and return the jewel to China!

The filmmakers play fast and loose with the time and setting by throwing in liberal amounts of classic British rock music, contemporary references in the dialogue, and messing around with famous people like Jack the Ripper, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and even a young Charlie Chaplin. None of it is meant to be taken seriously and should be easily excused. The humor is another story. While the chemistry between Jackie and Owen remains strong, some of their horseplay seems overly staged. I found myself really wanting to laugh at every gag, but not being able to, mostly due to an obvious lead-up to mediocre punch lines. Thanks to quick pacing and great action, this isn’t too much of a deterrent.

There are several action scenes that stick out, but none more so than Jackie’s homage to Gene Kelly’s umbrella dance in Singin’ in the Rain (1952). Jackie has professed his love for Kelly’s work before and it’s not surprising to finally see him pick up an umbrella and go nutty. The scene works well and showcases Jackie’s incredible choreography in what becomes one the most dynamic sequences he’s done in years. Wirework appears to be in limited use, but the scene does have a flavor reminiscent of his early films. When he picks up several umbrellas and unleashes a fury of jabs and hooks to several street thugs, one cannot help but recall Jackie’s comical swordplay in Drunken Master (1978). Jackie’s love of silent era Hollywood is seen in an earlier fight with several New York cops inside a revolving door.

Based on her acceptable, yet limited fighting, Fann Wong is not going to be the next martial arts film starlet, but she’s awfully attractive and plays her part well. Donnie Yen lurks in the shadows as Aiden Gillan’s Chinese accomplice in crime. Near the end he finally shows his stuff by taking on Jackie in a historic screen fight. This is the first time these two legends have crossed paths behind or in front of the screen and it’s a bittersweet affair. Yen is not the lead villain and seeing as how this is a Hollywood film that requires fights to be wrapped up quickly, the two trade blows for only a short time before Donnie goes out with a demoralizing bang. Yet, it’s great to see him in a villainous role again, as he excels at it. The film’s finale amid the grinding gears of Big Ben features a classic sword duel between Jackie and Dubliner Aidan Gillen who is doubled for much of the scene.

The final moments of the last action scene bring to mind both Jackie’s clock scene in Project A (1983) and the banner leap that Michelle Yeoh and Pierce Brosnan take in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). In fact, much of this film’s action borrows from previous Jackie Chan movies or other genre films. Coupled with too much unfunny humor, Shanghai Knights shows signs that Jackie’s sixth sense for staying ahead of the trends is failing and can no longer hide behind his struggle for prominence in Hollywood. But, there are enough enjoyable elements to warrant a look while pondering the possibility for a third entry with better writers attached. The final word is that Shanghai Knights scores high with good martial action from Jackie and his team that gets better as the film progresses, while taking a knock for being derivative and poorly scripted.

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