Shanghai Knights
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: February 7, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
10
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
VarietyJoe Leydon
A hugely entertaining and more lavishly mounted follow-up to 2000's "Shanghai Noon," the high-concept East-meets-Western that first teamed top-billed duo, pic rides even taller in the saddle as a fleet and funny crowd-pleaser. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
With Shanghai Knights, he (Chan) has come through with one of his best. This time, it's personable. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
Turns out to be that rarest of Hollywood creatures: a sequel that one-ups the original…These two smart, happy movie stars prove that silliness doesn’t have to be moronic. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Far from great but greatly entertaining. Read full review
80
SalonCharles Taylor
What Chan represents -- the humor and charm and the sheer physical beauty of seeing him in action -- as well as the lazy, ping-pong repartee he achieves with Wilson, is the essence of the casual, deceptively artless art of movies. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Coasts heavily on Chan and Wilson's charm, which would be a big problem if those prodigiously gifted stars weren't taking on roles that fit like two pairs of comfortable slippers. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Bounds from one gag to another like an eager puppy. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The unlikely cowboys play off each other's strengths like the best doubles team in tennis. The exquisiteness of this match is that Chan and Wilson are both reactive comedy actors. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
That his dialogue is often deliberately anachronistic is part of the joke -- and Wilson's sly delivery is often funnier than the lines themselves. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
This is an action-comedy sequel so indefatigably preposterous and farklemt -- as they say in certain Upper West Side saloons -- that it actually improves on the original. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
There are three action sequences here so delightful, so hilariously deploying an old tool for a new use, that they prompt smiles long after I saw the film. Read full review
75
USA TodayMike Clark
The star interplay and anachronisms recapture some of the surreal spirit of the Crosby-Hope Road movies, and the end-credit outtakes are funny enough to sustain that getting-hoary device for at least one more picture. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Actually a pretty entertaining movie, in a kick-you-in-the-pants kind of way. A relative rarity -- a solid no-brow comedy. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldChristine Dolen
A hoot. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Despite his advancing years, Chan delivers some fleet slapstick; like his hero Buster Keaton he works intuitively with levers, pulleys, ladders, and umbrellas. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
This is a movie where you can just sit back and revel in it, warts and all. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
For what it's worth, the film also goes out of its way to be a lavish visual re-creation of the 1880s. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
It's a gimcrack assemblage of gags, action scenes, favorite moments from the first hit and diorama-like views of high and low Victorian culture. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Uproarious imbecility. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Pretty mediocre entertainment, and probably better suited for home viewing than a trip to the multiplex. Read full review
60
Village VoiceEd Park
The adventure-book pace and topsy-turvy English setting evoke the feel of Stephen Sommers's "Mummy" films. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
Loving Jackie Chan has always been easy, which is why it would be nice if he could find better material in which to bask in his long-sought American stardom or, alternately, ease into bad movies as effortlessly as his co-star. Read full review
60
Film ThreatRon Wells
Only promised a few good fights, a lot of chuckles, and an easy way to kill a couple of hours. In today's Hollywood that's hard enough to deliver. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A machine for killing time, and it does so fairly painlessly.
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
So appallingly slipshod in all the usual departments is this sequel to the engaging martial-arts comedy Western ''Shanghai Noon'' that you're tempted to cite its makers for contempt. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
Chan and Wilson's easy camaraderie remains eminently watchable, but the rough edges from last time out are missed. Read full review
40
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Why would the writers bother with narrative when the story is just something that kills time, and brain cells, between feats and fists of fury? Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Most of the film's humor derives from smug anachronisms (the Brit-pop soundtrack, Wang and Roy's use of modern slang) and jokes about bad English food, teeth and weather that were old when Victoria was a girl. Read full review
40
Film ThreatDavid Grove
I would also like to state for a fact that fight scenes in absence of all other drama aren’t interesting to watch. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleSteve Davis
If you’re the type of moviegoer who finds the idea of 19th-century characters using phrases such as "Be cool" and "You must work out" in their conversations, this is the film for you. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
It's too bad Chan's imagination and delicacy were wasted in this movie. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Grating. Read full review
0
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Desperately unfunny action comedy. Read full review
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