Shanghai Noon (2000)

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

I forgot how much goddamn fun Shanghai Noon is. It's pretty much the quintessential east meets west buddy flick (sorry Rush Hour, love you too bbz), and upon rewatching it I realized that it's every bit as awesome, and more so, than I remember as a kid. You take Jackie Chan, a stoic, robotic Chinese fighting machine with the sense of humour god gave a sock, and pair him with Owen Wilson, a wishy washy surfer dude of a cowboy who can't take one second out of the day to stop talking or cracking jokes, and you've got gold. Of course, they need a film to run about in that's just as solid as they're team up, and that's just what we get. This is a bawdy, unapologetic roll in the hay, a genre bender that tosses the American western, the buddy cop flick and the Kung Fu picture into a big cauldron, fires a few bullets in and gives it a big old stir. It's ridiculously fun for its entire duration, an achievement which the sequel just couldn't keep up with. Chan is Chon Wang (say it fast), a Chinese imperial guard on the trail of runaway Princess Pei Pei (Lucy Liu), who has runoff to America. No sooner does he set foot on Yankee soil, he's bumped into peace pipe smoking Natives, and clashed with a band of train robbers led by Roy O Bannon (Owen Wilson), a fast talking soldier of fortune who doesn't seem to have much skill besides yapping his way out of a situation. The two are thrown into a mad dash across then west, Chon looking for the princess, and Roy after the missing gold from the train. It's what movies were made to be, a pure rush of gunfighting and chop socky, kick ass action sequences, all given the boost of Chan's insane talents. He's like a rabid squirrel monkey, and Wilson a drunk sloth, constantly mismatched yet always coming out on top, like the best comic duos always do. They're faced with taking dpwn a few baddies, including Walton Goggins as the dumbest outlaw this side of the Rockies, and a terrifying Xander Berkeley as a corrupt, homicidal marshal. The core of it rests on Chan and Wilson to entertain us though, and even in the down time between action, their energy is infectious, especially in a manic drinking game that just can't be described in writing. Like I said, the sequel, Shanghai Knights, just doesn't capture he magic quite like this one does, and seems to fall flat. You can't go wrong with this original outing though, and it just gets better with age.

Shanghai Noon is a great movie with a very well developed storyline and a terrific comedic cast. It's a very fun movie that contains many scenes that had me laughing out loud, as well as several surprisingly intense and very well choreographed action sequences, it's a clever mix of both westerns and martial arts films, and it is clear watching this from start to finish that it is a unique film. I only have two major problems with this movie, and that is that it takes itself too seriously at times, it gets fairly deep for something that should have only wanted to be a comedy, particularly the scenes with the princess and her capturers are quite dark and grim, and I also felt like it needed much more moments between Chan and Wilson's characters that conveyed a friendship is beginning, I would have liked to see a lot more scenes with the two of them together simply having fun and not worrying about the problem they must overcome. The highlight of the movie and the thing that certainly holds it all together would have to be Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, they are an unlikely duo, but this works out perfectly, the chemistry between the two is outstanding and the drinking game is definitely my favourite scene in the whole movie. Funny, action packed and entertaining, I would recommend Shanghai Noon to anyone looking for a good adventure film. A Chinese imperial guard teams up with a train robber in order to rescue a kidnapped princess. Best Performance: Owen Wilson

Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson star in a 19th century Western, where Imperial Guard Chon Wang (Chan) of China's Forbidden City attempt to rescue the kidnapped Princess Pei Pei (Lucy Liu) in the United States. There, he meets small time robber Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson) and together they go through misadventures, until they finally band together to find the Princess and rescue her people.This is basically a good old fashion western comedy featuring Chan's signature martial arts moves and Wilson's mellow and friendly attitude yearning for grandeur. You put the two characters together and you'll get a love-hate friendship and partnership that is mildly entertaining to watch.The plot is quick-paced, helped by the story's many adventures and fast action from the characters. The clash between the east and west cultures and stereotypes are amusing and harmless enough to keep the film interesting. Lots of slapstick humor and whimsical jokes from the cast, especially Chan and Wilson, mixed in with some heroic action and courageous drama. It's not Oscar material, but it's loads of fun.Grade B

Enjoyably silly action comedy with the grand master, Jackie Chan.Chan plays a Chinese Imperial guard in the mid 1800's, sent to America by order of the Emperor to bring back a princess who is captive of a particularly unpleasant Chinese character named Lo Fong. Upon arrival in America, Chan has the misfortune to be on a train when a gang of outlaws, led by the most laid back, incompetent cowboy of them all, Owen Wilson, storm the train on a robbery. Inevitably, as Chan seeks the Princess, their paths become inexorably linked.Some decent fight sequences, Chan's trademark stunt work (though toned down from his earlier work, presumably due to age) and a witty script make this entertaining enough fare.I liked it.