At times this seems like it should have been more confusing than it is, but it comes together well. The background to Denzel's character is lacking, and with any time travel movie there are plot holes, but otherwise it has originality for a science-fiction movie.
Shanghai Knights uses a lot of the comedy from the first film. The best thing about this is the choreography in the fight scenes that is original and more entertaining than the first. Roy does very little in this by way of fighting with Chon doing pretty much everything. It was similar in the first but Roy had some part to play.
The conversations in the barbershop seem a bit more forced than the previous Barbershop films. The overriding plot about gang violence is very simplistic to say the least, and Cube's son goes from wanting to join a gang to a choirboy in too short a time. 2.5-2 out of 5.
Paradise Alley begins with Sylvester singing. He can't. From there it doesn't ever develop into much apart from some interesting characters and cinematography giving an interesting glimpse into the 1940s. Stallone seems high off his new found fame here and enjoys his time on screen.
