Video: Shanghai Noon

Herald rating: * * *

Running time: 110 mins

Rental: Now

Review: Ewan McDonald

It didn't fly in cinemas here (while obscenities like Big Momma's House, see below, did) but Jackie Chan's western/martial arts/buddy comedy deserves another look. Especially for the performance of his offsider, Owen Wilson.

The Forbidden City, China, 1881. The princess (Lucy Liu) hates the man she must marry. Her teacher helps her escape to the United States where she is kidnapped and held for ransom in Nevada.

Three imperial guards go to the rescue; Chan goes along to carry baggage for his uncle, their interpreter, and teams up with a train robber, Roy O'Bannon (Wilson), to rescue the princess, with much help from an Indian maiden