In "Shanghai Noon" Jackie Chan played a Chinese-born Western Sheriff named Chon Wang (pronounced, in one of the film's many in-jokes, "John Wayne"). In this sequel the action moves from the Wild West to the London of 1887, the year of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. Chon has gone to London, accompanied by his American sidekick Roy O'Bannon, to track down the men who have murdered his father, the Keeper of the Imperial Seal. The murderers are a rebel against the Chinese government and Lord Nelson Rathbone, a British aristocrat who is a cousin of Queen Victoria and tenth in line to the throne. Rathbone is planning to murder not only the Queen herself but also all the rest of the Royal Family so that he can become King. It falls to Chon, O'Bannon and Chon's sister Lin (with whom O'Bannon has fallen in love) to thwart this dastardly plot, assisted by a cheeky street-urchin (who later turns out to be Charlie Chaplin) and a bumbling policeman (who turns out to be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).
This is not, of course, a serious historical drama. There are numerous historical inaccuracies; apart from those already on your "goofs" board, I noted a couple more. There is no such place in Ireland as "Holmes County". Queen Victoria had nine children and, by 1887, numerous grandchildren, so any cousin of hers would have been a lot further down the line of succession than tenth. These goofs, however, do not matter greatly, as the film never sets out to be a serious drama or an accurate picture of late nineteenth century life. Like most Jackie Chan vehicles it is a comedy which incorporates martial-arts elements. (It has many similarities to the more recent "Around the World in Eighty Days" which presented an equally inaccurate picture of life in Victorian Britain).
Much of the humour comes from the martial arts sequences, which, as normal with Chan, combine exciting action with slapstick comedy. Humour also arises from the relationship between Chon and O'Bannon, amusingly played by Chan and Owen Wilson. Many adventure stories have at their centre a European or European-descended hero accompanied by a loyal, but subordinate, non-Caucasian companion, a pattern going back at least to Robinson Crusoe and Man Friday and famously exemplified by the Lone Ranger and Tonto. In "Shanghai Knights" this pattern is inverted. O'Bannon has been publishing, under a pseudonym, a series of novels which give a fictionalised account of his adventures with Chon and which always show himself as the hero. In reality, however, it is the brave and resourceful Chon who takes the leading role; O'Bannon is lazy, boastful and something of a coward, a man who left to his own devices would prefer to lead an easy life and use his fame to attract the girls. He is, however, a loyal friend to Chon and can sometimes find reserves of courage when required. This may not be a serious film but it can be an entertaining and amusing one; I preferred it to the first film, "Shanghai Noon". 6/10
This is not, of course, a serious historical drama. There are numerous historical inaccuracies; apart from those already on your "goofs" board, I noted a couple more. There is no such place in Ireland as "Holmes County". Queen Victoria had nine children and, by 1887, numerous grandchildren, so any cousin of hers would have been a lot further down the line of succession than tenth. These goofs, however, do not matter greatly, as the film never sets out to be a serious drama or an accurate picture of late nineteenth century life. Like most Jackie Chan vehicles it is a comedy which incorporates martial-arts elements. (It has many similarities to the more recent "Around the World in Eighty Days" which presented an equally inaccurate picture of life in Victorian Britain).
Much of the humour comes from the martial arts sequences, which, as normal with Chan, combine exciting action with slapstick comedy. Humour also arises from the relationship between Chon and O'Bannon, amusingly played by Chan and Owen Wilson. Many adventure stories have at their centre a European or European-descended hero accompanied by a loyal, but subordinate, non-Caucasian companion, a pattern going back at least to Robinson Crusoe and Man Friday and famously exemplified by the Lone Ranger and Tonto. In "Shanghai Knights" this pattern is inverted. O'Bannon has been publishing, under a pseudonym, a series of novels which give a fictionalised account of his adventures with Chon and which always show himself as the hero. In reality, however, it is the brave and resourceful Chon who takes the leading role; O'Bannon is lazy, boastful and something of a coward, a man who left to his own devices would prefer to lead an easy life and use his fame to attract the girls. He is, however, a loyal friend to Chon and can sometimes find reserves of courage when required. This may not be a serious film but it can be an entertaining and amusing one; I preferred it to the first film, "Shanghai Noon". 6/10