A Chinese man who travels to the Wild West to rescue a kidnapped princess. After teaming up with a train robber, the unlikely duo takes on a Chinese traitor and his corrupt boss. Shanghai Noon is a 2000 Chinese-American adventure comedy western film starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson. The film, marking the directorial debut of Tom Dey, was written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. The film, set in Nevada and other parts of the American West in the 19th century, is a juxtaposition of a western with a kung fu action film with extended martial arts sequences. It also has elements of comedy and the "Buddy Cop" film genre, as it involves two men of different personalities and ethnicities (a Chinese imperial guard and a Western outlaw) who team up to stop a crime. It was partially filmed in the Canadian Badlands, near Drumheller, Alberta, Canada, and also near Cochrane, Alberta. A sequel, Shanghai Knights, was released in 2003, with David Dobkin as director. Plot Chon Wang is a Chinese imperial guard in 1881. After Princess Pei-Pei, for whom Wang has affection, is abducted and taken to the United States, the Emperor of China sends three of his guards to retrieve her. Wang is not one of the three, but he tells them that it was his fault the princess was kidnapped. The Captain of the Imperial Guards first refuses, but when the Royal Interpreter, Wang's uncle, offers to allow Wang to come help with the baggage, the Captain agrees in the hopes that the "foreign devils" would get rid of Wang. In Nevada, Roy O'Bannon is an outlaw who, with his gang, hijacks the train Wang is on. When Wallace, a member of Roy's gang, kills Wang's uncle, Wang chases the outlaws down. However, the gang is well-armed and Wang's only choice is to unhinge the cars and get away on the engine. In the process, Wallace takes over the gang from Roy, and they leave him buried up to his chin in the desert sand. Meanwhile, Pei-Pei, who was tricked into believing she was freely escaping her arranged marriage in China, finds out she has been kidnapped by an agent of Lo Fong, who ran away from the Forbidden City and was viewed as a traitor by the Chinese. When Wang finds Roy buried in the sand, he demands to know the direction to Carson City. Roy tells him that the city is on the other side of a mountain. Wang puts two chop sticks in Roy's mouth for him to dig himself out. When Wang comes out the other side of the mountain, he gets involved with a Sioux tribe by saving a boy chased by the Crow tribe and ends up reluctantly marrying the tribe chief's daughter, Falling Leaves. Wang finds Roy in a tavern and, in anger, starts a fight with him that turns into a barroom brawl. The two of them get sent to prison, and after Falling Leaves helps them escape, they become friends. Roy trains Wang in the ways of the cowboy. When they get to Carson City, Roy discovers that both he and Wang, now identified as the "Shanghai Kid" are wanted by Lo Fong's ally Marshal Nathan Van Cleef, and the two of them narrowly escape. They go to a bordello (which Roy describes as his "hideout"), but after a drunken encounter by Wang, the Marshal eventually catches and arrests them. They find out that Lo Fong is behind the kidnapping of the princess. As they are about to be hanged, Wang manages to break himself free and after Falling Leaves shoots Roy loose, they escape the execution site. Wang, upset over Roy previously telling one of the prostitutes at the bordello he was not Wang's friend, rides off alone to find the princess. However, Roy follows him and the two reunite when Roy saves him from Fong. Cast Jackie Chan as Chon Wang (doubled by Andy Cheng and Yuen Biao) Owen Wilson as Roy O'Bannon Lucy Liu as Princess Pei-Pei (doubled by Marny Eng) Brandon Merrill as Indian Wife Xander Berkeley as Marshal Nathan Van Cleef Roger Yuan as Lo Fong Kate Luyben as Fifi Jason Connery as Calvin Andrews Simon R. Baker as Little Feather (doubled by Marny Eng) Walton Goggins as Wallace Henry O as Royal Interpreter Yu Rongguang as Imperial Guard Rong Guang Yu Eric Chen as Imperial Guard Eric Chi Cheng Chen Yuen Biao as Saloon Fighter (uncredited) Garvin Cross (stunts)

• published: 20 Dec 2014
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