Shanghai Noon (2000)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Tom Dey

Writers (WGA):

Miles Millar (written by) &
Alfred Gough (written by)

Release Date:

26 May 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Western

Tagline:

The Classic Western Gets A Kick In The Pants.

Plot:

Jackie Chan plays a Chinese man who travels to the Wild West to rescue a kidnapped princess. After teaming up with a train robber, the unlikely duo takes on a Chinese traitor and his corrupt boss.

Plot Keywords:

Princess | Chinese | Rescue | Imperial Guard | China

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

Jackie Chan	...	Chon Wang
Owen Wilson	...	Roy O'Bannon
Lucy Liu	...	Princess Pei Pei
Brandon Merrill	...	Indian Wife
Roger Yuan	...	Lo Fong
Xander Berkeley	...	Van Cleef
Rongguang Yu	...	Imperial Guard (as Rong Guang Yu)
Ya Hi Cui	...	Imperial Guard (as Cui Ya Hi)
Eric Chen	...	Imperial Guard (as Eric Chi Cheng Chen)
Jason Connery	...	Andrews
Walton Goggins	...	Wallace
Adrien Dorval	...	Blue (as P. Adrien Dorval)
Rafael Báez	...	Vasquez
Stacy Grant	...	Hooker in Distress
Kate Luyben	...	Fifi

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for action violence, some drug humor, language and sensuality.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA | Hong Kong

Language:

English | Mandarin | Sioux

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:10 (original rating) | Iceland:L (video rating) | Malaysia:U | Ireland:12 | South Korea:12 | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (nf) | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:PG | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (PCA #38763) | Australia:PG | Philippines:G

Filming Locations:

Alberta, Canada

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

During the scene where Roy and Chon are drunk in the hotel, director Tom Dey hoped to include a drunken kung fu scene as an homage to Jui kuen II (1994) (Legend of the Drunken Master (1994)). There was no time to choreograph such a scene, so Dey showed Chon blowing bubbles from his mouth, as Wong Fei-hung does in the Drunken Master movie.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Marshall Van Cleef states, "By the authority vested in me by the Territory of Nevada..." Nevada became a state in 1864. The story took place in 1881.

Quotes:

Roy O'Bannon: Come on out, Little Roy. Work your magic.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Shanghai Poon (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

La Grange

The Best Action/Comedy/Buddy/Martial Arts/Western of the Week

Final Score: 8.9 (out of 10)

Of all of the `east-meets-west' scenarios Hollywood has concocted to showcase the talents of international action star Jackie Chan, Shanghai Noon turns out to be the most fun and surprisingly fresh yet. His American partner this time is one blonde haired Owen Wilson in his first big lead role. Chan and Wilson have more chemistry and are more fun to watch then Chan and 'Rush Hour' co-star Chris Tucker ever were. Not to mention the high concept setting that successfully mixes the buddy comedy, a Hong Kong martial arts movie and an old American western (the deadest of generas). It is the 18th century. Chan is imperial guard Chon Wang who winds up alone in the old west searching for the Chinese royal family's kidnapped princess (Lucy Liu, thankfully with little screen time). Wilson is, and I remember it so well because it just sounds like a typical cowboy name, Roy O'Bannon - a hapless, 2-bit train robber with an even more incompetent team behind him. Wilson gets huge laughs with his motor mouth and that constantly befuddled look on his face. He looks like he'd rather be surfing. It isn't long before a series of events throws them together and send each into a little bout with culture shock. In typical buddy movie style they are at each others throats one minute and in a tub bonding over drinking games the next. There may be a cliché here and there but watching these two bounce off each other is so exuberant and entertaining it's hardly noticeable.

'Shanghai Noon' is helmed by first-time director Tom Dey who makes a remarkable debut. Dey lobs the gags at us, well timed and many times from the periphery of our vision (something noticeably lost when the movie is seen in a pan-and-scan version). O'Bannon's first stage coach robbery and a scene with a drunken Jackie Chan and his drunken horse are absolute riots. The movie also has put equal time into the action department. There are a lot of great fights and action set pieces in here allowing Chan to show off his magic. He makes use of ropes, trees, antlers and all sorts of props when improvising in some terrific - and even exciting - fight scenes. The cocktail premise of 'Shanghai Noon' is so original that it is only in those patented Chan moments where we are brought back into being aware that this is `a Jackie Chan vehicle'. At nearly 2 solid hours the movie threatens to drag, but have no fear. It has enough wit and creativity up it's sleeve to grab our interest and not let go. Many recent action movies are long for the sake of it, but Noon makes ample use of it's time to give us a fully realized and satisfying comedic adventure. And with Dey and two comic pros like Chan and Wilson driving the antics, Shanghai Noon is a hoot and a half.