[KFCC] Shanghai Noon Review

Story: The princess Pei Pei is convinced to go to America by an English teacher in service of the imperial family. When she arrives in America she soon discovers that she is going to be held against her will by a traitor from the royal guards who left China long ago. The emperor must pay a ransom of gold to retrieve the princess. Imperial guards are sent to America, Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) gets to tag along to help his uncle who is serving as translator. During their ride on the train to Carson city bandits attack the train. Chon pursues the bandits and manages to stop their plan. Chon manages to escape to continues his journey to Carson city and will eventually team up with Roy (One of the bandits from the train) who hears that there is gold involved in the rescuing of the princess.

Review: Another fine film from Jackie Chan, a little different from have last few American movies. The mix of Kung Fu and the wild west is an interesting combination. This is not a new concept but it was rarely done before. As expected in a Jackie Chan movie the story is a mix of action and humor the type which the entire family can enjoy. The story is straight forward and you will have no trouble understanding what is going on.

There is a good cast of characters but most of the focus is on Chon and Roy, also considering it is an American movie there is some pretty decent development on these two characters. Actually these two make an interesting duo but their on screen chemistry is not perfect, they still make a great team together. The support characters are good too but there is little or no focus on them and no background what so ever. The villains are pretty much similar, you really don't get to feel the motivation for their actions other than the fact to acquire gold and become rich (overused excuse for villains).

Jackie Chan newest American movies are not famous because of the action in them, they are a little toned down compared to his old movies. In this film the action is much less than what Jackie Chan usually does and the fights do not last very long. The quantity might be less but the quality is very high. In addition to the fights you have comedy and a good story to keep you entertained. We'd just like to mention that there was no crazy stunts from Jackie this time around, also we noticed that some fights were slower than what Jackie would normally do.

There was no subtitles to worry about in this film, maybe a few words to read in the beginning while in China. One thing we found funny is that even in the scenes where there was only two Chinese alone together they would speak English instead of their native tongue. This movie is nothing less than can be expected from Jackie Chan and maybe a touch above his usual movies. It is a movie that everyone can watch and enjoy, it has something for everyone which is true for most of Jackie Chan's movies. So if you have a chance we suggest you go see this film.