"Shanghai Noon" is not a full-on classic, but it doesn't deserve a lot of the negative comments I leafed through. Jackie Chan (the bumbling but heartstrong Chon Wang) and Owen Wilson (Roy O'Bannon) make an unlikely but effective team because they add naivete and determination to the two misfits. Lucy Liu shows exceptional spunk as the fiesty Princess Pei-Pei, and she holds up against Lo Fong (Roger Yuan adds a laid-back but icy edge to the renegade Imperial Guard). The hyperactive Chon Wang's marriage to a Native American princess, though, could have been edited out of the movie because it is not essential to the movie's storyline. The corrupt sheriff Nathan Van Cleef (portrayed by Xander Berkeley) could have been fleshed out a little more because he resembles a sketch of the stock corrupt public official. It's not perfect for movie buffs, but it is acceptable for a slow Saturday morning when there are marathons of college football games.
Review of Shanghai Noon
