The year is 1881 and in the Forbidden City of China Princess Pei Pei (Lucy Liu) is bored with her restricted environment.  When her English teacher offers to take her to America she jumps at the chance, but this apparent holiday soon turns into an elaborate kidnapping.  Pei Pei's father, the Emperor, dispatches a group of his finest guards to deliver the ransom and return his daughter safely.  However, the plan goes slightly askew when the guard's train is robbed and they become separated, leaving one of them known as Chon Wang (Chan) out on his own.  Lost in a strange land, Wang is seized upon by a local conman named Roy O'Bannon (Wilson) who, upon hearing about the money involved, decides to assist Wang in locating the princess.  As the two travel across the old west, they come up against bar room brawls, showdowns and the sheriff as they attempt to bring Pei Pei back to her homeland.

After 'Rush Hour' proved to be an international success, Jackie Chan was finally given the opportunity to fulfil one of his long-term ambitions and create an Eastern-Western (a concept he has been promoting for sometime).  The result was 'Shanghai Noon' - a film that, whilst nowhere near the standards of his early productions, is a decent attempt at combining Chan's comedy kung fu with a distinctly American genre.  Sadly however, Chan was not able to refine the concept himself and was once again saddled with a partner as Hollywood seemed incapable of giving Chan a solo headlining role.  Luckily this doesn't prove to be quite such a hindrance here as Wilson isn't anywhere near as grating as Chris Tucker and the two seem to forge an admirable on-screen chemistry, with neither actor ever attempting to overshadow the other.  The action is clearly watered down from what we are used to, but it is a notch above 'Rush Hour' with Chan continuing to amaze for a man of his years, even if some of the routines here feel slightly too over-familiar.

'Shanghai Noon' is probably not the film it could have been if Chan had been responsible for overseeing it himself, but it remains one of his most respectable American outings.  The action and comedy are all relatively solid with Wilson proving an enjoyable comrade for Chan and far more adept in the role than Tucker.  Not vintage Chan by any means but a worthwhile purchase none-the-less.