Shanghai Noon @ Odeon, Ipswich

Starring: Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson and Lucy Liu.

Verdict: A Shanghai Surprise, A Fast-Paced Comedy Martial Arts Caper that's worth wasting an hour or two on.

Though he may be amazing at what he does, Jackie Chan will never be Bruce Lee, Bruce was 'The Man' a true legend, an icon and still has a mystical presence due to his tragic early death. Chan must be all too aware of this, so his martial arts movie career path has tended to be on the comical side, instead of replicating Lee, he's been a breath of fresh air in a film genre where the smell of pungent cheddar is beginning to become over-bearing. Like other foreign film-stars, coming to Hollywood on the back of phenomenal success in their own countries, Chan has taken a while to find his feet. The Hong-Kong movies are superior to his early American attempts, but with 'Shanghai Noon' it looks like Chan has hit the nail on the head, this is a gem of a movie.

Set in the 1880's, Chan is sent to America from China's forbidden City, along with three of the City's best guards, to rescue Princess Pei-Pei(Liu)...yes yes smutty jokes are made. A haphazard train robbery separates Chan and he's man lost in a different culture, until he teams up with Roy O'Bannon (Wilson), a cowboy who can't shoot straight. They must rescue the girl, kill the baddies and save the entire West from a greedy Chinese traitor and a corrupt Sheriff. Sounds corny, cliché, hackneyed, cheesy……..WELL IT IS, BUT IT'S GREAT.

It has all the ingredients of a typical western, GREAT YOU SAY, but then it adds Kung-Fu, and the moves Jackie pulls off are VERY VERY VERY COOOOOOOLLLLL. There are a series of brilliant action sequences, all hijacked straight from every western ever made, like TRAIN ROBBERIES, BAR ROOM BRAWLS, ESCAPING FROM THE GALLOWS, MEXICAN STAND OFFS IN A REMOTE CHURCH……………..the list goes on and on. The action makes it a thrill-a-minute but when there is a let up, the quality doesn't dip as Wilson steals the show as the incompetent cowboy. He plays Roy with a hilarious 'surfer dude' accent and all his scenes are a barrel of laughs. His buddy relationship with Chan, hates him, loves him, they fall out, he saves him, there best friends again, is straight out of the BOOK-HOLLYWOOD HOW TO WRITE A MOVIE PART 1, but it works as they are great together.

If you don't even have a wry smile over this film then you've had a sense of humour by-pass. The jokes come thick and fast, with many being subtle so you pick up a bit later and can't help but let out a side-splitting chortle. Yeah I know what yer thinking, and yer right, the others in the press screening probably thought I was a bit unhinged. Even simple things like Chan's name made ME laugh, say Chon Wang really fast, what do you get, work it out yerselfs. It lacks hype and expectation, unlike other blockbuster contenders (like  X-Men and Gone in 60 Seconds) and it makes it infinitely better for it. IT COULD HAVE BEEN 'WICKY WICKY WILD WILD WEST', IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT CRAP, IT'S GREAT, GO AND SEE IT.

If you like this, you'll love:

Rush Hour

Police Story

Blazzing Saddles

by ChrisM