Shanghai Noon
Shanghai Noon
PG-13 | 26 May 2000 (USA)
Shanghai Noon Trailers

Chon Wang, a clumsy imperial guard trails Princess Pei Pei when she is kidnapped from the Forbidden City and transported to America. Wang follows her captors to Nevada, where he teams up with an unlikely partner, outcast outlaw Roy O'Bannon, and tries to spring the princess from her imprisonment.

Reviews
Marketic

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

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Comwayon

A Disappointing Continuation

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AshUnow

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

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Janis

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

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Leofwine_draca

Yet more of the amiable buddy-buddy action comedy staple from the newly Americanised Jackie Chan, who seems to base every American movie on the template created in RUSH HOUR. Martial arts buffs and fans of Chan will undoubtedly find this a pleasant enough viewing experience, with a fast paced plot that takes in just about all of the old Western clichés: I'm talking cowboys, native Americans, slaves working at a mine, the bar-room brawl, tons of prostitutes, the jailbreak, the showdown, plus lots more besides. Superficially, the film is a pleasure to watch, with great photography at a number of key moments and stunning attention to detail in terms of sets and costumes. The only thing out of place is the bizarre music the film uses, which tends to be towards the 'grating' end of the scale.Fans of Chan, however, will find him getting further and further away from the heights his career reached in the mid to late 1980s. I'm talking about classics such as ARMOUR OF GOD and POLICE STORY. As Chan gets older, we begin to notice some of his stunts are digitally created, stuntmen are starting to pop up, and the various fight sequences just don't last as long as they used to. Don't get me wrong – there are still plenty of cool martial arts battles on display here – it's just that they seem to get fewer and further apart with only flashes of the occasional brilliance that Chan has come to be known for.The comedy aspect of the film is high, trading mainly on the comic interplay between the extreme characters. Chan actually manages to be irritating a few times here with his overacting whilst his newest foil, laidback sidekick Owen Wilson, is a taste that one definitely needs to get to grips with. At least he is far less annoying than RUSH HOUR's Chris Tucker, which has to be a good thing. The supporting cast is pretty strong – Lucy Liu is remarkable but underused as the princess, and one of my favourite supporting role actors, Xander Berkeley actually gets a GOOD role for a change as the mean sheriff, Nathan Van Cleef. Roger Yuan is sufficiently imposing and skilled athletically to provide menace as the villain of the piece, whilst there are plenty of comedic supporting players to enjoy.The balance between comedy and action seems to be pretty spot on, but this is a kind of film where the laughs make you smile occasionally rather than laugh out loud. The same effect is true of the action sequences – they're cool and engaging, but none of them are truly spectacular or mind-boggling like they used to be in the old days. I guess we can at least be thankful that Chan is still around to provide half-decent entertainment which at worst makes us feel nostalgic for his older days. Good luck to him. A sequel, SHANGHAI KNIGHTS, followed in 2003. Incidentally, this is the newest addition to the strange sub-genre of films, the Eastern Western. Following on from the success of THE FIGHTING FISTS OF SHANGHAI JOE in the early '70s, other notable examples include TIGER ON THE RIVER KWAI, BLOOD MONEY, and KUNG FU BROTHERS IN THE WILD WEST.

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NateWatchesCoolMovies

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.

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slightlymad22

Jackie Chan's new action comedy, Westerns, martial arts and buddy movie is stolen by an excellent performance by Owen Wilson.China, the Forbidden City, 1881. The princess (A wasted Lucy Liu) who hates her life is kidnapped and held for ransom in Nevada. The three best imperial guards are selected to rescue her. Chan goes along as a he feels responsible (as he failed stop top her)In Nevada, Chan teams up with a train robber named Roy O'Bannon (Wilson), and they rescue the princess with much help from a hot Indian maiden (The actress is called Brandon Merrill and she is hot).The plot, of course, is only used to get us from one of Chan's Chaplin-esque martial arts sequences to the next, with Wilson's very funny verbal quips. Material like this can be very very bad. Here it is sort of wonderful, mainly helped by Chan's likability and effortless charm and the performance by Wilson. His comic timing is precise, and his character is very hard to dislike.Chan's character is (As in every American movie he has made to date since the Burt Reynolds led Cannonball Run in 1980) a man of limited vocabulary and much action. Most moviegoers didn't know who Owen Wilson was when this was released. Most people only remembered him from 'Armageddon' after racking their brains, This movie should have made him an A list star. He is too smart and versatile to be packaged within a narrow range tho and he followed this up with Meet The Parents, Zoolander, Royal Tenebaums, Behind Enemy Lines and I Spy before 2003's sequel to this movie. Liu, as the princess, is completely under used, until the final act where she becomes a damsel in distress, a brave and plucky one, but a damsel in distress non the less. Not so boldly portrayed is Merrill's Indian woman,(My God is she hot. It's a shame she has not had an acting role prior or since this movie) who is married to Chans character in a ceremony that nobody seems to take seriously and that the movie itself has clearly forgotten all about by the time the last shot comes around.

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OllieSuave-007

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

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