The critic for "Senses of Cinema" called "Shanghai Express" a "riotous exercise in excess in every area; the visuals are overpowering and sumptuous; the costumes ornate and extravagant; the sets a riot of fabrics, light and space; and all of it captured in the most delectable black-and-white cinematography that one can find anywhere." He discusses the film's interest in the questions of race and colonialism and notes the "peculiar bifurcation" of the film's view of race; most of the respectable "white" characters in the film are seen as both flawed and racist. Only Dietrich, Wong, and to some extent "Doc" Harvey, have any "real moral agency." He calls the film "surprisingly feminist," with Dietrich being a "strong, dominating presence" and Wong's character her equal.