2000 Week: SHANGHAI NOON

by Rosalie Lewis

The movie that turned me into a Chan-girl.

When Patrick shared that this FTM Fest would be focused on the year 2000, I got very excited. So many of my movie firsts happened that year, and I watched lots of things in theaters and home video after a lifetime of being restricted from doing so. I also got to vote in my first presidential election that year, which had a less rewarding outcome, so let’s stay focused on the movies. Shanghai Noon marked the first time I saw Jackie Chan on screen. It was not my first movie Western; that honor belongs to either Tombstone or Wild Wild West. I’m pretty sure it was also my first time seeing Owen Wilson on screen, because I wouldn’t dive into Wes Anderson films until the next year. I share all of this to say I had a rather limited frame of reference for Shanghai Noon and all its allusions to other cultural touch points. Even so, I loved it immediately and got caught up in the action and the comedic hijinks and the odd couple at the center of the frame. I purchased the VHS once my video store started selling the pre-watched copies and I showed it to my younger siblings, who also found it hilarious and heartwarming.

Watching it again now, 26 years after its release, I’m happy to say it really holds up. One could certainly do worse than this for an intro to Jackie Chan, and this time around I really admired the craftsmanship and love that went into the movie. Because it’s Jackie, of course there are lots of practical stunts that he performs himself along with his team; but beyond that, the production design and attention to detail on the physical locations is impressive. There’s very little CGI—a few fake mountain ranges here or there to enhance the background—and lots of carefully designed sets and set pieces. They actually went to the Forbidden City in China to shoot the opening scenes. They built a real gallows for the hanging stunt. They paid to use eight miles of train tracks for the robbery scenes. They studied ancient artwork and historical documents to get costumes right. They made sure to cast actors and extras with the correct ethnicity – which may go without saying now, but in the year 2000 definitely not a given.

In case you haven’t seen this one in a while (or ever), basically this is director Tom Dey’s homage to Westerns like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Sergio Leone’s Man With No Name trilogy, and the movies of John Ford. The twist is that it’s an “Eastern Western” because it puts Jackie Chan (whose name in the movie is Chon Weng—say it out loud and you’ll get the joke) into the mix as an Imperial Guard from the Chinese army who is supposed to be guarding the Royal Princess (Lucy Liu) on her trip to America. When the train carrying this Royal party gets held up by robbers (including not just Owen Wilson but also relative newcomer Walter Goggins), Chon Weng’s on a collision course with his new enemy turned frenemy turned friend Roy O’Bannon (Wilson). Roy’s mostly in it for the ladies, not so much for the crimes. Because it’s a Western, of course there are some encounters with Native Americans as well. Your mileage may vary with how well the movie handles the potential cultural minefields—the director admits on his commentary that, “We weren’t very politically correct, but I think we made fun of the white people the most.” I would generally agree with that, but it’s probably the part of this movie that has aged the most questionably.

Lucy Liu doesn’t have a ton of screen time, but she makes the most of her role as princess who has become a pawn in a larger scheme involving politicians using Chinese immigrants to build a railroad. She stands up for the workers at her own peril and uses the little agency she has to protect them from further harm. In a recent interview with Vogue, she mentioned that this movie led to her casting in Kill Bill. Quentin Tarantino apparently saw Shanghai Noon and thought Lucy Liu played her role with dignity and gave the character a fighting spirit, and decided she’d be perfect for O-Ren Ishii.

Owen Wilson is a lot of fun in this movie, riffing with Jackie and talking a lot and kind of just being the Owen Wilson we all know and love now. He really had an amazing run with Bottle Rocket, Shanghai Noon, Meet the Parents, Zoolander, and The Royal Tenenbaums. I realize not everyone loves Wedding Crashers, but I would probably throw that in too because it’s a trademark Owen Wilson comedy. Who is the Owen Wilson of 2026? Is there one?

The most year 2000 thing about this movie is definitely the music. There are not one but two Kid Rock tie-ins: a needle drop of his song “Cowboy” plays in the movie, and the DVD contains a music video with clips from the movie for the song “Yeah Yeah Yeah” by Uncle Kracker in which Kid Rock appears as a silent partner dressed in his tacky best doing some swaying and affirmative hand movements. So in case you’re playing Six Degrees of Kid Rock anytime soon, he has worked with Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, Dean Norris, Walton Goggins, and Lucy Liu at least this one time. This movie spawned a sequel, Shanghai Knights. I have not rewatched it in quite some time, but I don’t remember finding it quite as magical as this movie—basically just transplants these two dudes into London so they can mix it up with new scenery and cultures. As for Tom Dey, I’m not sure he ever recaptured the wonder of this electric directorial debut—though I have not yet seen Marmaduke, maybe it secretly rules.