Classic Chan: Shanghai Noon (2000)

Coming to the last review by Chicken Man in our Classic Chan series, we take a look at one of Jackie's distinctly American films, Shanghai Noon. Thrasher will bring the series to a close with Accidental Spy. But fret not, we will looking at more Chan favorites in the future.

Shanghai Noon is undoubtedly one of Jackie's best American films. It is perhaps the best film with which to introduce Jackie to a Western audience (no pun intended). The plot is quite simple: the princess of the Forbidden City (Lucy Liu) is kidnapped and held for ransom in the American West. Chon Wang (Jackie) is an imperial guard who is sent to pay her ransom and ensure her return. Along the way, he runs into screw-up outlaw Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson) and they become reluctant buddies. The action scenes are also tailored to fit the typical American movie-goer in that they are much shorter than the ones in Jackie's Hong Kong films. Interestingly enough, Jackie's skills as an action star shine through even without forcing some anachronism to do car chases, underwater stunts, helicopter hijacking, or destroy drug dealer's houses with large machinery. The focus is primarily upon his martial arts abilities, one of the highlights being his turning a horseshoe and rope into an effective medium-range melee weapon. He is also involved in a bar fight scene that is easily within the top ten bar fight scenes shown on film. And, as if he were a contestant on The Deadliest Warrior, Jackie tests his mettle against Native American warriors. Every fight scene advances the story (unlike the entertaining, but ultimately pointless, skirmishes between Jackie and Mr. Lo's henchmen), which keeps things fast-paced and moving along. And despite Owen Wilson's presence in it, Shanghai Noon is actually quite funny. It's really hard to point at any single thing and say that it is a flaw (besides the fact that it doesn't have a game like Shanghai Knights does). It defines the Martial Arts Western Action Comedy genre (however big that is), and is simply a solid film. This is truly a Chan classic.

[P.S. Shanghai Noon is also a loaded DVD and will be featured in our upcoming DVD review series, which will highlight some of our favorite DVDs, back from when they used to put worthwhile special features on them.]

Classic Chan: Digging Around in the Archives

Seems a bit impractical, Jackie, but impressive nonetheless.

If you haven't had a look yet at our ongoing Classic Chan review series, we implore you to do so by checking out our reviews of Police Story and Police Story 2. Keep an eye out for more reviews in the coming weeks. In the meantime, though, you should know that there's a wealth of Jackie Chan content already awaiting you on Code Redd Net. Here's what you may be missing:

Reviews:

Jackie Chan's Stuntmaster
The Forbidden Kingdom
The Medallion
Rush Hour
Rush Hour 2
Rush Hour 3
Shanghai Knights
The Tuxedo
Twin Dragons

Code Redd Net Awards:

Best Jackie Chan Movie
Finest Fight

From our Finest Fights series (featuring spectacular embedded videos!):

Police Story
Jackie Chan's Thunderball
Jackie Chan's First Strike
Rumble in the [Vancouver] Bronx
Who Am I?

and, of course, there's always the golden Time Life CD box set Solid Gold Chan.

Danny should upgrade to a PS Vita. A higher resolution screen
would be much better for playing those games which Jackie always
forgets to give him.

Friday From the Archives: Shanghai Knights (2003)

"I was at first hesitant to see this flick. While Shanghai Noon, successor to Shanghai Knights, is still a personal favorite of mine, Jackie Chan's small atrocity, The Tuxedo, left a sour aftertaste in my mouth. I was corrected in the errors of my ways quite quickly, however. Take Rush Hour 2, remove Chris Tucker with Owen Wilson, add a 1800's England flavor, and you've got essentualy a very similar movie. It's coincidently another Jackie Chan buddy picture, and it happens to be among the very best. Shanghai Knights utilizes Chan's signature action-comedy mix to create a film that's both breathtaking and hilarious at the same time. Fight scenes are excellent; some of Chan's best work can be found right here in America. And while Jackie's not a cunning linguist, Owen Wilson has the majority of dialogue to speak of, and, for the most part, does a respectable and commendable job. Their new female partner (played by the lovely Fann Wong) is excellent and does a commendable job as well. The comedy between and sometimes during the fight scenes is good; although nothing special, I found myself laughing quite frequently. Also, this flick's narrative was quite good, and I enjoyed the whole flavor of the movie. It all fits together like a fine glove in Shanghai Knights and easily results in one of Chan's finest American works yet."

Fan art.

The Fight is Won! Shanghai Knights Online Game

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