Synopsis (without Spoilers)
After Princess Pei Pei is kidnapped, Chon Wang is dispatched to try and rescue her. He meets Roy O'Bannon, and the two become cowboy buddies. Chon teaches Roy the ways of the martial arts expert, and Roy teaches Chon the ways of the wild, wild West. Together, they make an unbeatable and hilarious team.
Reviews(with Spoilers)
Now I've seen a lot of Jackie Chan movies, seeing as how I have a little brother who thinks he's some sort of martial arts expert. Though I'm all for mah man Jackie, I have to admit that his most of his movies are B-movies... they don't get much better than Jackie himself, showing off his talent in beating people up with everyday, ordinary objects. Chan is usually the main attraction of his movies, not the story or director. However, Shanghai Noon, I am happy to say, stands out as a different sort of "entertaining."
Though I profess that I'm a Jackie fan, I usually have to be dragged into his movies. The reason is simple: You've seen one, you've seen them all. But after seeing this movie, I was happily surprised. Not only did Shanghai use Chan's charm to entertain, but they brought in Owen Wilson and Lucy Liu, both rising stars. Wilson brought a sort of western humor to Chan's usual; a yin to the yang is probably what the studios were going for. Not to mention Liu, who thankfully did not act the part of the helpless maiden, to whom Chan always comes to the rescue. The supporting cast's presence was refreshing, but did not take the light away from Chan, who was spectacular as always.
The most drastic difference was probably a result of the movie's US production. Whereas most of Chan's projects are done in Asia, Shanghai was an "East meets West" in all aspects. The pairing of Chan and Wilson; Pei-Pei's plan to escape from Asia to America, but foiled by a greedy Westerner; Wang's marriage to an omnipresent Native American wife; the very name of Chan's character (Chon Wang=John Wayne)... the list goes on. All in all, the result was a good one, full of entertainment and refreshingly new sorts of comedy as a result of the multi-cultural backgrounds of the movie.
"It was an American style Jackie Chan movie, like Rumble in the Bronx or Rush Hour; but definitely done better than both." --comment from a Chan fan
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