SHANGHAI NOON (2000) Movie Reaction! | First Time Watch! | Jackie Chan | Owen Wilson | Lucy Liu

The hosts consistently highlight Jackie Chan's unique fighting style, characterized by his creative use of the environment and a 'fail up' approach where he often stumbles into advantageous positions. They note that longer, uninterrupted takes in fight scenes indicate the involvement of his trusted stunt team, showcasing his professionalism and trust in his crew.

“God, I love Jackie Chan fight scenes so much. So much. They're so good. He finds such creative ways to like utilize his environment and also like fail up every fight.” [00:14:02], “if it's longer cuts and longer takes, it's his team because he trusts them more.” [00:22:04]

A recurring 'gripe' for the hosts is the Western filmmaking convention of having non-English speaking characters converse in English, even when interacting among themselves. They acknowledge the historical context of audience resistance to subtitles but argue it detracts from authenticity, especially in intimate character moments.

“My one gripe with this. All right, here we go. That got me there. I've talked about this before with movies from this era and a little earlier is the sort of western film making stickick of taking two characters that are clearly non-English speakers and putting them in a scenario where no one else around them needs to speak English and still having them speak English for the purposes of the audience understanding.” [01:09:28]

The film's incorporation of modern music in a historical Western setting is praised for setting a fun, non-serious tone. This stylistic choice is compared to 'A Knight's Tale,' where contemporary songs are used to pull the audience out of the historical context and emphasize the comedic and entertaining aspects of the narrative.

“I also love like the the sound design cuz we had music when we needed it, which is very modern some of the songs and then which again sometimes that can be like counterproductive with the film, but I thought it really added a nice touch to it and it was really funny when it was utilized. Took a page out of like a night's tale.” [01:13:28]

The hosts highlight two female characters: Owen Wilson's Indigenous wife and Princess Pei Pei. The Indigenous wife is celebrated for her emotional maturity and 'badass' nature, consistently saving the male leads and making independent choices. Princess Pei Pei's journey from royalty to commoner provides her with a worldly view, leading her to choose to stay in America to help her people, rather than returning to the Forbidden City.

“She was the most emotionally mature character. She was the best one. 100%.” [01:07:18], “She was a freaking badass. She saved the men. She wasn't a damsel in distress. She was saving their ass.” [01:07:50], “Princess Pepe when she was having to work as a commoner what she she didn't want to go back to China. One she didn't like the original traditions but two she got to see her people like this is what they have to do.” [01:08:00]