Film Review: Shanghai Surprise (1986)

Brief but eventful marriage between MTV-era pop empress Madonna and rising Hollywood star Sean Penn resulted in what is often regarded as the most famous 1980s supercouple. Two spouses tried to use their liaison to promote their respective careers with variable degrees of success. Shanghai Surprise, 1986 period action comedy directed by Jim Goddard and Penn’s and Madonna’s only joint appearance in a feature film, however, ended up as notorious box office and critical flop.

The film is based on Faraday’s Flowers, novel by Tony Kendrick. Plot is set in 1938 Shanghai, during Second Sino-Japanese War, when the city was occupied by Japanese with an exception of International Settlement. Protagonist is Glendon Vassey (played by Sean Penn), American businessman of questionable character and apparent lack of money, most of it lost in a failed attempt to make fortune by selling ties that glow in the dark. Left all but penniless, he reluctantly agrees to help Gloria Tatlock (played by Madonna), missionary nun that wants to locate huge stash of opium that was lost by Walter Faraday (played by Paul Freeman), major narcotics smuggler during the incident that apparently claimed his life. Gloria wants opium in order to refine it into morphine, which should administered to wounded Chinese soldiers. Vassey is useful to her because he can speak Chinese and apparently knows various shady characters that could help Gloria in her quest.

On paper, Shanghai Surprise looked like a winning combination – exotic period setting reminiscent of Indiana Jones films, blend of action, comedy and romance, as well as some of the most iconic stars of the time. In reality, almost all creative energy was spent on promoting the film on the basis of Penn and Madonna appearing together. What audience saw, however, was utterly disappointing. Both stars were miscast; Penn is very talented actor, but specialised for intense dramatic roles, and light comedy isn’t his forte; Madonna lacked the acting talent and her character wearing chaste missionary clothes was at odds with her image. Madonna would later earn her first Razzie Award for this performance. Furthermore, both Penn and Madonna lacked any chemistry together. Those flaws could be forgiven, but not utterly uninspired script by John Kohn and Robert Bentley, which made plot confusing and characters dislikable. Light tone of the film is at times compromised with scene that feature torture and graphic violence. Jim Goddard, director best known for works in British television, also does a poor job and despite having large budget and actual Asian locations at disposal, makes Shanghai Surprise looking much cheaper than it is. The only person who actually did decent job in this film is Maurice Binder, famous titles designer whose opening sequence at times reminds at his legendary work on James Bond films. Unfortunately, this sequence is also the first that features one of many songs of George Harrison, who also worked as executive producer. Those rock songs are often at odds with 1930s period songs and another reason why Shanghai Surprise today looks like a waste of time just as it did during its original release.

RATING: 2/10 (+)

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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/58048-shanghai-surprise
Critic: A