SN was well promoted
here with daily TV ads for about two weeks up to the opening day,
having shots of some of the classic scenes interspersed with groups
of (camera-happy <g>) Americans hopping around and cheering
"Shanghai
Noon"!
It debuted around
the country in quite a number of theaters, understandably at a
significantly larger distribution than Gorgeous was. Japan's
big Toho film company booked it in many of its theaters, and it
was also screened by Warner Company's new, state-of-the art Mycal
theater chain, which is where we saw SN not far from our
neighborhood at the newly opened "Saty" shopping mall
topped by the Mycal multiplex.
Of
the 10 theaters available there, SN was shown in one of
its smaller venues with about 200 seats, and the room was just
over 1/3 full for the 12:30 showing (2nd screening of the day)
that I went to — most people were at lunch, of course! 
At that Mycal complex, there were 6 daily
showings scheduled, and in the event that viewer numbers might
get out of hand, they could shuffle the films among their theaters
to best accommodate the crowds. BTW, the Mycal theaters are real
cushy with roomy, soft seats steeply set, a huge screen and booming
Dolby sound. Plus cup holders!
Well,
I must say that SN was really fine! Good ol' Jackie himself
aside and taking in all the peripheral elements, it was quite
a bit more entertaining and satisfying than Rush Hour.
The scenery was wonderful, the flow of the story excellent, the
acting great, the dialog engaging and fun (and admirably pronounced!
<g>), and the action pretty outstanding!
Some of you griped
about the close shots on the fighting, as I recall...... Sure,
much of it was close in, but on that big screen it was exhilarating
to watch and in a number of instances the tight view actually
framed and held Jackie's wonderful moves artfully! (Spinning around
for a kick in that heavy and elegant courtly costume with its
silk whirling and his braid whipping — Bravo!!!) I think at least
for a person who's seen many of his films and fight scenes, SN's
handling of the action could be very satisfying in the sense that
those other films' fight scenes are top-notch for what they are,
while those staged for SN were something like high art
in a new frame. Though it was not a typical Jackie Chan film that
stages lengthy fight scenes from a more panoramic perspective,
I was truly impressed with the action in Shanghai Noon.
Just thinking of that crashing tumble down the inside of the bell
tower, for instance..... it filled the screen as Jackie bounced
against the beams then smacked the floor hard in a cloud of dust — WOWCH!
The
whole movie was just very well put together. Shanghai Noon
was serious and comical and cute and heroic, but no combination
of these elements ever in the least made a scene appear lame or
out of synch (....like I detected a bit in Rush Hour.....The
director lost some great opportunities with that one, in my opinion.)
I would not be
surprised if SN's box office is bigger around Asia in proportion
to that for the U.S. and Europe. Both sides of the "eastern-western"
theme are highly appealing in Japan generally. The "Old West"
setting was really refreshing to me and clearly delightful to
everyone in the audience — I see it in part as a welcome break
from the dark and futuristic themes being churned out by the U.S.
film industry at present. Well okay, The Matrix was great,
but then again there's as much an ongoing desire among the viewing
public for veteran Jackie Chan as there's been for rookie Stuart
Little..... And even if Stuart were to perform his own stunts
without a wire or a scurry-in*, how could he
possibly EVER measure up to the star power of the great
JC?! 
At the theater
shop a number of souvenirs were on sale, including the nice SN
large color brochure with photos, synopsis, bios and production
notes (these are always available for movies in Japan) at ¥500,
plus the cute "WANTED: Shanghai Kid" pin for ¥600
and the Shanghai Noon key chain for ¥500 that I picked
up, and a smaller 2-poster set for which I think I paid ¥1,200.
A T-shirt and postcard set and a few other things were available
as well, and when sold out at the shop the items could be ordered
via the form in the SN brochure. We also were given a cool
Shanghai Noon decal sheet (shown at the top of this article)
in the lobby with our tickets and again at the entrance to the
theater — generous!
Regardless of
its final global box-office take, this film is the kind that does
very well when it's released on video, and the Shanghai Noon
DVD is absolutely a must-have item. Great job, Jackie & Co.!
scurry-in: a stunt double that serves as a stand-in for the
star rodent during an action sequence. Though the international
film industry does not officially track the numbers, it is believed
that the fatality rate for stunt rodents is the highest among
animal performers. [back]
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