Shanghai Noon [DVD] [2000]

There is plenty of humour throughout, mainly delivered from the mis-matched heroes and of course there are plenty of good quality Jackie Chan fight scenes which always supply a gasp of wonder and a giggle on top.

The DVD also has a reasonable selection of extras including the failed stunt out-takes.

This is an all round good film, worth every penny.

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).