Starring: Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, Lucy Liu

Director: Tom Dey
Released: 2000

Mood: If you’ve had the worst week of all time and need a Western that is guaranteed to make you laugh but also warm your heart to its core.

Confession: I’ve owned the Shanghai Noon DVD for as long as I’ve had this review site, but never watched it until now.

I genuinely thought this whole time that it was some trashy flick that mocks the genre and makes people think Westerns are a pathetic waste of screentime. You know, like Bandidas. Or Wild Wild West.

Clearly I never read the reviews! But give me a break, pop culture in the year 2000 wasn’t exactly at its personal best.

Anyway, I just kept saving this DVD for a time when I was really and truly low, and ready to watch what I thought was a surefire monstrosity. This week I finally gave up on a rock bottom low enough for what I expected from Shanghai Noon, and decided to spring it from its unwatched prison on my DVD shelf.

HOLY SHIT. I could have watched this movie SO MANY F*N TIMES over the last two decades and have it memorized. It’s funny. It’s sweet. It’s insanely action-packed. It’s full of Western cinema nods and references and clever plays on words.

Honestly, I’m probably going to put it on again as soon as I’m done writing this review.

Shanghai Noon takes place in that golden Old West decade of the 1880s. Imperial Guard Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) is crushing on the princess Pei Pei (Lucy Liu). She’s determined to get out of an arranged marriage, and has secret plans to escape.

Pei Pei doesn’t realize the person taking her to America is a traitor, and plans to hand her off to a bad guy named Lo Fung (Roger Yuan). A small group of Imperial Guards are dispatched to rescue the princess.

Meanwhile, cowboy outlaw Roy O’Bannon (Owen Wilson) is having serious issues with his gang’s lack of focus. They board a train to do their usual robbery thing, but a new member named Wallace (Walter Goggins) is way too messy and trigger-happy. He shoots one of the Imperial Guards, who happens to be Chon Wang’s uncle. Wang fights the outlaws and escapes, and Wallace takes over the posse and leaves Roy buried up to his neck in the desert.

With a captivating blend of martial arts and classic Western action, Wang and Roy begrudgingly team up to fight the bad guys. Much hilarity ensues.

Jackie Chan is EVERYTHING in Shanghai Noon. That’s unsurprising, because he’s a gifted actor on every level. But here his chemistry with his co-stars is just as good as his stunts – and that’s saying a lot.

Chan excels at giving you the awkward guy who has beyond-epic fight moves, and he brings all of that to Wang. But he also delivers this incredibly layered, powerful Chinese character in a Western, a guy who never has to be less than himself to be the hero. It’s not a character or performance we often get to see in the genre.

Owen Wilson is kind of a polarizing actor. I personally adore him, but I get that he maybe wouldn’t appeal to certain types of Western fans. His portrayal of Roy is just so full of positivity and warmth, so cheeky and confident yet harmonious with Chan, that he seems perfect for the role.

Other noteworthy performances:

• WANG’S HORSE! Not since The Villain have I enjoyed a stunt horse so much. The only links I can find to articles referencing Fido aren’t secure so I won’t share them here, but he was trained to sit, drink from a bottle, and kiss faces. Mad props to trainers Claude Chausse and Niki Flundra.
• Lucy Liu delivers a fine balance of refined, aloof royalty and humanity; she’s no delicate flower and has her hidden skills, but she’s still believable as as an era-appropriate princess.
• Walter Goggins has proven to be a scene stealer in other Westerns (The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained), and he’s just as memorable here as the chaos goblin Wallace.
• Roger Yuan is a seasoned stuntman, stunt coordinator and choreographer, and martial artist, and also a great actor who makes a fierce opponent for Jackie Chan.

One of the things that I like best about Shanghai Noon is that the minorities are the badasses, which was especially rare in ‘00. The Indigenous characters are strong and full of humour – and they ultimately save the day. The Chinese characters are tough, loyal, and significantly more skilled in fights.

There’s just so much going for it. The production quality is next-level. The stunts are literally jaw-dropping. The costumes are great. And the bloopers during the closing credits are the cherry on top.

I can’t believe this was director Tim Dey’s first feature film. He hasn’t done a whole lot since, but what a debut.

Now, I fully admit I’m the prime audience for this movie, so maybe I’m blind to some flaws that are obvious to others. I obviously adore Westerns, but I’m also a huge fan of comedy, action, buddy cop movies, clever word plays, and references.

Or maybe it’s a seriously awesome Western comedy that deserves praise.

I’ll leave you with this list of references that delighted my ass off throughout Shanghai Noon.

• The title a play on the iconic High Noon
• Chon Wang’s name sounds like John Wayne when you say it aloud, which Roy says is a terrible name for a cowboy
• At the end, Roy reveals his name to be Wyatt Earp, and Wang says that’s a terrible name for a cowboy
• Roy’s nemesis is Marshall Nathan Van Cleef, an obvious nod to the legend Lee Van Cleef – and they have a showdown that has a few squinty closeups
• The final scene outside the church is a nod to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
• Roy’s line ‘I don’t know karate, but I know crazy’ is an often-used movie reference to James Brown’s song The Payback
• The story of The Frog Prince is an underlying theme, with Pei Pei reading the book, Wang reading her copy, and Wang ultimately becoming her frog prince
• Wang talking through a bubble in a bathtub is a nod to Chan’s 1994 movie The Legend of Drunken Master