Dave McClain
It's often tough to judge a movie based on its background or its pre-release publicity. Here's a case in point: What if I recommended to you an American movie which was originally shot seven years ago, took two years to edit and was only released overseas, before sitting on a shelf for another five years until finally becoming available in U.S. theaters, only to receive a 5% critics rating from a leading movie rating website? Doesn't sound very promising, does it? Okay. What if I then told you that the movie has an international cast of award-winning actors, some of which are past Oscar nominees, and the script was written by another Oscar nominee? At that point, you might express some interest. You also might remind me that a strong pedigree is no guarantee of a strong movie. And you'd be right. In this case, however, the movie in question - "Shanghai" (R, 1:45) is well worth a look – because of the reputation of the cast and filmmakers, and in spite of the film's long and questionable road to American theaters.With stars from the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Japan, Hong Kong and China, a writer from Iran and a director from Sweden, all working on a film set in China, but also involving the British, Americans, Germans and Japanese and taking place early in World War II, it would be hard to imagine a wider international effort in the service of a more international story. In fact, in its story, international flavor and tone, this neo-noir drama-mystery-romance reminds me more than little of 1943's "Casablanca".It's 1941. World War II is raging in Europe and in Asia, but the United States is still officially neutral. Japan has swallowed up most of China, with the notable exception of one specific area. Shanghai is an international city which is still technically under the control of the Chinese government. In reality, the city is divided into sectors in which various foreign countries have virtual autonomy, a remnant of decades-old trade treaties imposed upon the Chinese by other more powerful nations. Within this large city, there is a British sector, an American sector, a German sector and a Japanese sector. There's an uneasy peaceful coexistence among Shanghai's many nationalities. Tension resulting from various ongoing hostilities and fear of international conflicts spreading hang like a dark cloud over every action and reaction, every conversation, every interaction and every relationship between potential foes.This is the situation in which Naval Intelligence Officer "Paul Soames" finds himself. It's not his real name. Much like everyone around him, there is more to "Paul" than meets the eye. After a stint working undercover in Berlin while posing as a journalist who is a Nazi sympathizer, he is "transferred" to Shanghai to work with a close friend and fellow Naval Intelligence Officer called Conner (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). As Paul arrives in Shanghai, he learns from his handler (David Morse) that Conner has just been murdered. Paul is determined to find out who killed his friend and why, for reasons that are both personal and professional. Solving this mystery will require him to carefully navigate the increasingly shaky relationships between people who seem to trust each other less and less with each passing day.Paul uses friendships that he established back in Berlin, especially with Leni Müller (Franka Potente), as a way of getting to know the major players in Shanghai. Through Mrs. Müller, he meets Japanese army officer Captain Tanaka (Ken Watanabe) as well as a local Chinese crime boss, Anthony Lan-Ting (Chow Yun-Fat), and his wife, Anna (Gong Li), a woman who seems to have more secrets than… well, than China has rice. Paul also makes contact with Conner's informant, Benedict Wong (Juso Kita) and tries to find Conner's mistress, Sumiko (Rinko Kikuchi), who disappeared on the night Conner was murdered. Meanwhile, Paul has to maintain his cover with his British newspaper editor (Hugh Bonneville). Paul has a lot to juggle as he retraces Conner's footsteps to discover the reason for his murder."Shanghai" is a classic neo-noir in every sense of the term. Besides shady characters, an imperfect protagonist, a crime to be solved and various forms of intrigue along the way, its judicious use of narration by Paul, the way the various characters speak to each other, and more than a few surprises and plot twists, should recommend this film to all fans of the genre. It may not have the charm of "Casablanca", but it has even more action and intrigue. This is the best neo-noir since "L.A. Confidential" back in 1997. "Shanghai" should not be judged by the twists and turns that brought it to American theaters, but by the creative and entertaining twists and turns that the film serves up on screen. "A"
KineticSeoul
The plot takes place in Shanghai a part of China the Japanese didn't completely take over yet during the Japanese invasion and occupation of China in 1940's. Jeffrey Dean Morgan has a scene in the beginning a very short scene and you wonder why he would want to be cast for this movie. But he gets some flashback scenes which makes his decision sort of makes sense. Anyways the plot mainly revolves around Paul Soames(John Cusack) investigating a friends death while the Chinese and the Japanese are basically having something similar to a gang war between each other in Shanghai. Mainly between the Chinese resistance and the Japanese servants to their emperor. The movie also has spy elements to it and doing espionage on the Japanese and Nazis, mostly on the Japanese. The flaw of this film is that it just doesn't have good character interactions sometimes and not very clever and sometimes not all that believable. I could tell this movie is a homage to noir and even if the topic at hand is interesting, the movie as a whole just wasn't that great. The movie moves slowly and doesn't cover as much as it should with it's run time. both actors play a role they probably wasn't proud of. Not much is accomplished during the run time of this movie. This is a decent film and a good homage to noir, but I can see why this movie didn't do so well. It just isn't for mainstream audiences and and besides the performances it just seemed like a straight to DVD film despite the large budget. Even if the film to some degree accomplished what it tries to do to some degree. I was disappointed in a way since the movie didn't go the direction I wanted it to go, which isn't anything against this film but my own wants. Mainly because almost all the screen-time is on John Cusack despite it having well known Asian actors. The second most screen-time goes to Gong Li. The biggest reason I wanted to see this movie is because it has Chow Yun-Fat and Ken Watanabe and was expecting a face off between the two different characters these actors will play in a clever manner. Which would have been cool, but that wasn't the case. And another disappointment is how these two Asian actors hardly has any screen-time, their roles are small. The main element that drives this film is the characters impulses and intentions, which will keep you guessing and until everything is put together and everything comes together is a above average manner.7.8/10
Shin Obi
A good selection of actors cant save the fact that being an American made film about the orient is going to obscure the facts and bias the point of view.Trying to make out that the most blood thirsty, violent war mongering country in the world was a mere pass-a-by in WW2 is non-sense.Still, its a detective, romance, rebel uprising set in decadent shanghai makes for the lack of facts. Don't expect a documentary, but it beats watching another of those 999,999 type of American movies about American teenagers in American high school showing how superior America is.
denis888
I have really enjoyed this excellent movie, since i love war films. This one is about a pre-Pearl Harbor Shanghai, where Japanese, Chinese, Nazi, American intelligence services clash, and it's common people who make history. John Cusack is a great choice for the main role, and he delivers his part impeccably. Being a secret agent, he is deeply sensitive and sensible man, who wants to reveal some mysteries and he is right in the whirlwind of a war craze. Other actors include Chow Yun Fat, Gong Li, among others, and they all do great jobs. Japanese soldiers fight the Chinese partisans, Americans try to find out what they think will help... and all this is a dizzying background to a deep touching story of love, hate, cowardice, friendship, bravery and valor. This movie is highly recommended
