Chan, left, and Wilson... The Far East meets the Old West in Shanghai Noon.

Shanghai Noon
Touchtone, 2000
Directed by Tom Dey

$$1/2

Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan continues his leap into American movies by taking on the most American genre of all -- the Western -- in Shanghai Noon, a film that mixes elements of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Blazing Saddles, and Chan's own Rush Hour with various levels of success.

The year is 1881, and Chan plays Chon Wang (sounds like "John Wayne" -- get it?), an imperial guard in the Forbidden City who travels to the Old West in pursuit of a kidnapped princess (the exquisitely lovely Lucy Liu) who is taken from China and held for a ransom of gold in Carson City, Nevada. Once he gets to the states, Chon quickly finds himself on his own in the wilderness, and he's forced to team with gunslinger Roy O'Bannon, a well-meaning Train Robber (he's such a gentleman, he doesn't steal from ladies). O'Bannon helps Chon rescue the princess and Chon helps O'Bannon go for the gold. O'Bannon is played by Owen Wilson who easily steals the movie right out from under Chan. The quirky Wilson makes a better American partner for Chan than Rush Hour's Chris Tucker. Like Chan, Wilson's likability as a hero stems from his lack of cockiness -- both express a goofy amazement in their own achievements that's endearing.

Chan's usual Buster Keaton-meets-Fred Astaire-meets-Bruce Lee fighting style is on display as always, albeit with fewer acrobatics than normal. Missing is Chan's one big stunt -- there's no hanging from a helicopter, no walking down the side of a sky-scraper -- even the closing credits montage of outtakes doesn't feature the usual quota of bone-shattering mishaps involving the actor/stuntman. One can't help but think that at 46, Chan may be slowing down a bit.

With the action toned down, the humor is stepped-up to compensate. Besides the aforementioned Wilson, yuks are generated by a tribe of Native Americans straight out of a Mel Brooks comedy -- the same goes for Chan's drunken horse. Xander Berkeley is also thrown in as a psychotic Marshal with Snidely Whiplash facial hair, looking like something out of a silent movie (I spent much of the film waiting for him to tie a damsel to some railroad tracks). Berkeley, thankfully, manages to make the villain menacing and funny at the same time. The use of current day rock songs in the soundtrack also serve to pump-up the fun quotient.

The movie also comes equipped with a sequel-ready ending that guarantees, box office returns willing, that the cast and crew of Shanghai Noon will ride again.

(c) Copyright 2000