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Shanghai Noon Customer Reviews (31 - 33 of 47 Reviews)

A goodhearted romp through the old West!
This has got to be Jackie's best movie so far! Even better than Rush Hour. Yes, I am a Jack Chan fan. Not a fan of Martial Arts movies in general, but Jackie always plays such a nice, innocent guy, and his movies are always so full of comedy and hilarious fighting action, that it's hard not to become a loyal Chan fan. Shanghai Noon is no exception, and the chemistry between Jackie and the always hilarious Owen Wilson is wonderful! The plot is simple, but works great for the comedy and fighting sequences that are the real focus here. Jackie plays Chon Wang, a misfit member of the Chinese Royal Guard. When the Princess runs away to America to avoid marrying a less than charming suitor, Chon manages to join the rescue party. But while riding across the old west aboard a train, the men experience a hold-up, and Chon's uncle is unfortunately killed. Chasing after the villains, Chon is quickly seperated from his companions and alone in the unfriendly and wild, old west. He stumbles upon a tribe of Sioux Indians, and after a night of puffing on the peace pipe, wakes up with a beautiful new wife that he really doesn't want. Not long after that, he makes friends with the laid-back, talkative, and bumbling outlaw-wannabe, Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson). Roy proceeds to teach the humorless Chon the ways of the west, but is the worst teacher anyone could possibly hope to team up with. The laughs flow continuously, as Roy and Chon try to survive against the likes of Marshall Nathan Van Cleef, the evil Lo Fong, and Crazy Wallace, the train robbing Texan, all the while determined to rescue the Chinese Princess from her new captors.
The movie is typically sweet comedy from kickster Jackie Chan and smooth talker Owen Wilson, backed by a great soundtrack of modern cowboy songs like "I Wanna Be A Cowboy," and "Back In the Saddle Again." The DVD has a nice pile of extras too. You just can't go wrong by picking this one up if you like a good laugh and a sweet story with a feel-good ending.

A fun-filled action-packed Jackie Chan-Owen Wilson western
"Shanghai Noon" is a five star film when judged by its enjoyability and not by more presumptuous artistic standards. But in a world were so many movies fail big time and fall short of their potential there is ample reason to celebrate a fun movie like this one. Besides, when it comes to martial arts films it is clear to me that Jackie Chan is a perfect combination of the athleticism of Gene Kelly with the ability of Fred Astaire to work with whatever is laying about the location. Seriously, think about it; Chan doing a fight sequence with elk antlers just like Astaire dancing with a hat rack.

The point of the plot is to get Jackie Chan's character, Chon Wang, into the Wild West of the Nevada frontier in 1881. Princess Pei Pei (Lucy Lui) of the Imperial Court becomes the victim of a kidnapping plot and is taken to the United States. Three warriors are sent to deliver the ransom, along with a royal interpreter; Chon Wang tags along to carry the baggage. Unfortunately the train on which the Chinese are traveling is the target of wannabee outlaw Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson) and his inept gang. The two become partners in rescuing the princess, although Roy is more interested in the gold. Consequently the plot is a model of predictability but serves its purpose of getting us from one amazing fight sequence to the next.

The pairing of Chan and Wilson is similar to that of Chan and Chris Tucker in the "Rush Hour" movies, contrasting Chan's halting English with an ultra-verbal co-star. But there is a significant difference in that Wilson is more low keyed in his verbosity, making for what I think is a better contrast. The point that I knew this movie was really going to work was when Chon comes across Roy buried up to his neck in the sand. Instead of digging Roy out of the hole, Chon simply gives him a pair of chopsticks and suggests Roy dig himself out. Of course, Roy does, which is important because it gives the character credibility for holding his own, at least on some level, with Chon, which he certainly does in their first fight scene together. More importantly, they are both fish out of water when it comes to the Wild West.

Jackie Chan's creativity in fight sequences is astounding and setting the action in a Western gives it an added vitality. However, Chan also has an opportunity to do some "real" acting in this film with several early scenes that require emotional responses. Across the board this may well be Chan's best performance. There are also references to at least two dozen westerns, from the attempt to blow open a safe on a train from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" to a villain being named Van Cleef just liked the actor who played the "bad" guy in "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly." These assorted homages, nudges, and winks to past westerns is just part of the general sense of joy that permeates this film (and give you something to do when you watch the film a second time). 'Shanghai Noon' is just a fun film that avoids insulting the intelligence of its audience. We need more movies like this one (which explains the recent sequel).

There is a scene in this movie
Which nicely sums up the state of movies in the year 2000. Jackie Chan & Owen Wilson are in jail. Chan suggest that, to escape, he should pretend to be sick, Wilson lures the guard inside the cell, then knocks him unconscious. Wilson resonds with "Does that still work in China? 'Cause around here it's kinda' been done to death." A statement which could have been applied to many of this movie's summer competition, but not Shanghai Noon itself. Why this movie didn't beat out Mission Impossible 2 is anyone's guess. What it lacks in an admittedly slender plot it makes up for in seeing the interaction between the laid back Owen Wilson & the stoic Jackie Chan. Wilson's casual, leasurely style and Southern drawl makes a very funny counterpoint to Jackie Chan's action sequences & proves to be more effective in combination than when Chan teamed up with irritating Chris Tucker in Rush Hour. I understand they are working on a sequel to that film. I would much rather see a Shanghai Noon 2.

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