Shanghai Noon

Name: Shanghai Noon
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Western
Released: May 26, 2000
Duration: 110 min
Rating: 77
Cast: Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Owen Wilson

2000

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 197 Ratings

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8.8

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8.8	User Score Universal acclaim based on 197 Ratings

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Shanghai Noon

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Movie Details & Credits

Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: May 26, 2000 | PG-13

Starring: Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Owen Wilson

Summary: When Lo Fong (Roger Yuan) kidnaps the Emperor's daughter, Princess Pei Pei (Lucy Liu), and takes her to America, the Emperor sends his best Imperial Guardsman to find her. Chon Wang (Jackie Chan), one of the Emperor's least distinguished guards, insists on joining them. He feels responsible for the kidnapping and wants to make amends.When Lo Fong (Roger Yuan) kidnaps the Emperor's daughter, Princess Pei Pei (Lucy Liu), and takes her to America, the Emperor sends his best Imperial Guardsman to find her. Chon Wang (Jackie Chan), one of the Emperor's least distinguished guards, insists on joining them. He feels responsible for the kidnapping and wants to make amends. However, while the rescue party scours the West, Chon Wang gets separated from the group and soon becomes lost. When he crosses paths with Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson), a small-time outlaw, the two become unlikely allies.… Expand

Director: Tom Dey

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Comedy, Western

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 110 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Carrie Rickey

As irresistible as Chan is irrepressible. In a movie season in which, it seems, all the blockbusters boast wheels, it's a treat to see a movie that has legs. Read full review

Richard Schickel

He's (Wilson) a terrific sidekick to Chan's funny, earnest, often victimized righteousness. This kid could be a star. Read full review

Peter Travers

Wilson is flat-out hilarious, playing this cowboy like a surfer dude zapped back in time.

Jonathan Foreman

The most enjoyable western comedy since "Blazing Saddles." Read full review

Chris Kaltenbach

The martial arts wizard shows a nice feel for the Butch and Sundance thing. Read full review

Sean Axmaker

He (Chan) still can turn a silly little action comedy like this into a high-spirited, butt-kicking good time. Read full review

Steve Simels

It's too bad screenwriters Gough and Millar didn't have enough faith in their premise to play it straight; if they had, they might have produced a classic rather than a "Blazing Saddles" without the courage of its convictions. Read full review

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User Reviews

Vanta77

Jun 2, 2019

One of my favorite comedic movies ever, never get tired of watching it. The buddies have amazing chemistry, gotta love a good western with humor.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

CatherineK.

Feb 5, 2004

This movie rocks!!! enough said.

1 of 1 users found this helpful

StevenF

Aug 28, 2013

A film like 'Shanghai Noon' proves that you can take a serious and benchmark setting like the Western genre that has had hits and misses across decades, and take a more light-hearted and humorous approach, thats exactly what likeable stars Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson bring to the table inA film like 'Shanghai Noon' proves that you can take a serious and benchmark setting like the Western genre that has had hits and misses across decades, and take a more light-hearted and humorous approach, thats exactly what likeable stars Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson bring to the table in this comedy-action film, a flick that has all the makings of a martial arts marvel with the perfect setting of the Old West to set up a fish out of water story that sparkles from beginning to end. Jackie Chan plays a curious and bumbling Imperial guard called Chon Wang in ancient Forbidden City China, where he hears the high princess (Lucy Liu) over-talkning to an unknown man about leaving the country to go to America, when this happens, Chon and a small number of other guards are sent America to retrieve the princess, where Chon runs into notorious outlaw Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson), a witty and fast-talking cowboy who robs trains and longs after pretty women, but he messes with the wrong guard, and the two soon form an unlikely and uneasy alliance to retrieve the Princess, while Roy seems to be in it for the gold that is part of the exchange, as it is revealed to be an abduction of sorts.
The film plays to its key strengths which are the two leads of Chan and Wilson, its entertaining and awe-inspiring to watch Jackie Chan move seamlessly around the screen, taking out various enemies with his martial arts background, theses scenes rely on environmental cues which work brilliantly so as we don't have an endless amount of mirrored action sequences, with this comes Wilson, who provides an excellent amount of comical timing as man who tries to reason and talk his way out of everything, setting up a few funny encounters with Marshal Van Cleef (Xander Berkeley), who is after him. Many homages can be found to some of the best Western of the ages, proving that the film has a healthy respect for its roots, but also showing confidence in what sort of film it tries to be, not too serious but certainly enough drama to keep us entertained.
This is a wild and action-packed thrill of a film, it has some truly funny scenes and has some excellent martial arts moments with the undeniably energetic and charismatic Chan, but Owen Wilson cannot be left out of that equation, bringing his undeniable charm and witty persona to team up with the "Shanghai Kid", which has plenty of nods to buddy cop films but truly stands well on its own two feet.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

Zilcell

Nov 16, 2011

It has a lot of funny moments and great performances from Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan. Even with a short story to tell with a few plot holes, it is a fun movie.

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

sinadoom

Aug 17, 2013

A great film. It's funny, has good story and it's funny. The pace is perfect and has really good character development. Films with a premise like this are typically quite cliché and shallow, but this manages to keep it exciting.

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

MovieGuys

May 7, 2014

Shanghai Noon has some pretty cool martial arts sequences, and Owen and Chan have surprisingly good chemistry. The story, however, has some major problems.

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

clem666

Nov 27, 2020

I am truly surprised by the average user score for this movie. Yes, it's sometimes funny (mainly thanks to the amazing Jacki Chan's acting) but just substract all the racist and intolerant jokes and it becomes flat. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the scenario falling apart in theI am truly surprised by the average user score for this movie. Yes, it's sometimes funny (mainly thanks to the amazing Jacki Chan's acting) but just substract all the racist and intolerant jokes and it becomes flat. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the scenario falling apart in the first quarter of 'Shanghai Noon'. How mainstream and unoriginal is it to put a Chinese character deep into the western american society ? Obviously there are huge differences between the characters. Obviously there is a gigantic hole between their moral values and behaviours. Obviously they don't live the same way. But is it really all the job of the movie to make fun of these differences ? I guess it's hilarious to see a 'china man' test weed and getting drunk these days. This movie is just gross, vulgar and doesn't hide its racism.
The storytelling takes a hell of a hit for the development of some jokes. For example, all the 'American Indian' part could be resumed in: 'the hero meets a badass girl who will save his ass in multiple occasions without asking anything back'. This kind of scenes makes the scenario look duller and more predictable.
There are two main female characters in the entire cast, all the others are hookers. Waw.
The ending is quite unpredictable but doesn't make sense anyway.
Gunfights are lazy and emotionless while bare-hands fights are amazingly choreographed.
It is barely impossible to identify and to have empathy for the sidekick (Owen Wilson), who compiles betrayal behaviors and an unforgettable mercantilism.
Movie soundtrack is great and so is the artistic direction.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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37	#37 Best Movie of 2000
86	#86 Most Discussed Movie of 2000
83	#83 Most Shared Movie of 2000