Whilst Shanghai Noon is far from being Jackie Chan’s finest work, it is an infectious comedy/action flick with enough of Chan's unique brand of martial arts and Wilson's laid back comedy to keep boredom at the door for its running time.

In-fact Chan takes a back seat of sorts and lets Owen Wilson come to the fore to let him stretch his comedy legs. It's a move that works and since Chan is pushing 50 years old it's probably a sensible one to let someone else take the limelight. It's also nice to see Chan letting Wilson take things over rather than having it ruthlessly stolen by an unfunny annoyance like oh, say Chris Tucker.

It's Tuckers fault that it's taken me so long to see this film, I like Jackie Chan, his Eastern flicks are excellent and even the dubbed ones he made in Australia were pretty good. Rush Hour on the other hand is a train wreck, Chan was fine, but Chris Tucker destroyed that movie and his aura put me off seeing a Jackie Chan movie for a long time. I still won't see Rush Hour 2; I just won’t put myself through that kind of pain again. It's lucky then that Shanghai Noon has returned my faith in Chan to make good movies (just ones that don't co-star Chris Tucker).

The main thing that Shanghai Noon gets right is the 'buddy' pairing of Wilson and Chan, they play so well off each other that a sequel was guaranteed (and is due for release in a couple of weeks). Chan's wound up imperial guard is the perfect foil for Wilson's laid back faux-cowboy shtick. It's a joy to watch Chan's facade melt slowly as he and Wilson become firm friends. Sure, it's an old and tired plot mechanic, but Wilson and Chan's charm transcend cliché.

I've been a fan of Owen Wilson ever since I first saw him in a small part in 'The Cable Guy'. Not only is he a talented comic actor, but his writing is also excellent (as anyone who has seen Rushmore or his other films will testify). It's therefore good to see him finally getting some recognition thanks to this film and the likes of 'Zoolander'. His style of comedy is, as I have said laid back, pithy and subtle. It's not in your face like a certain Chris Tucker, but it's about twenty times funnier from where I'm sitting.

Chan's physicality is scaled back in this film as he gives up more screen time to his co-star Owen Wilson. That's not to say however, that you don't get any of his trademark martial arts. Although there are only a handful of scenes, they are as intense as some of his best work. Chan is not a martial arts star in the style of say Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Steven Seagal and others Chan's work is more light hearted.

He employs the surroundings of the fight in his choreography (which he does himself), so objects like a horseshoe and a length of rope or a couple of evergreen trees become props in the fight. I recall a scene in one of his earlier films where a shopping trolley was employed to great effect. His scenes are as intense as the people I mentioned, Chan is lightning quick, but through his facial expressions and clever prop use he imbues his fights with a joviality that is refreshing.

Elsewhere Lucy Lui looks suitably regal and has a nice little supporting role. I did like Roger Yuan as the bad guy, he has a nice look about him that gives an air of danger and he holds his own nicely against Chan in their fight scenes. I would have liked to have seen more of Brandon Merrill as Chan's Native American wife, because a) She's hot and b) her role is interesting and added a nice dynamic to the story.

Speaking of which, the story is utter nonsense, relying heavily on coincidence to drive the narrative forward. Normally I would come down on a movie hard for such transgressions, but the film just oozes charm and I can let it off more than I would others. I hear that the DVD has some cut scenes that explain many of the films plot holes (I wouldn't know as the DVD I saw was a bare bones rental disc), clearly they were ditched to keep the length down, but it does make the film suffer slightly.