Many excellent comedies from the 2000s, such as Anchorman, Napoleon Dynamite, The Hangover, and Wedding Crashers, received widespread acclaim. However, a comedy film featuring Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan, released during the same era, was unfortunately overlooked by many. Now, with streaming platforms making these films easily accessible long after their theater releases, movie enthusiasts have the opportunity to discover one of the most underestimated comedies from the 2000s and its sequel, which were both made available on streaming services in August.
This month, Hulu has expanded its collection with numerous new additions such as the martial arts western action-comedy “Shanghai Noon” from 2000 and its sequel “Shanghai Knights” from 2003. Although these buddy movies showcased Wilson and Chan’s exceptional comedic and martial arts talents, they were not as widely recognized during their original release years. Both films became available for streaming on Hulu starting August 8th.
Under the guidance of director Tom Dey, the movie titled “Shanghai Noon” is situated in the American West during the 19th century. In this adventure, we find two contrasting protagonists – an American outlaw named Roy O’Bannon (Wilson) and a Chinese Imperial Guard named Chon Wang (Chan) – joining forces to rescue a kidnapped Princess Pei Pei (Lucy Liu). The screenplay for this film was penned by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and it features performances from Walton Goggins, Roger Yuan, and Xander Berkeley as well.
2000 saw a flurry of comedies hitting theaters, including films like “Big Momma’s House,” “Scary Movie,” “Meet the Parents,” and “Shanghai Noon.” Despite this crowded landscape, “Shanghai Noon” stands out as one of the most underappreciated comedies of the decade. The movie was a box office success, earning almost $100 million on a budget of just $55 million, and it continues to be well-regarded, with an 80% critics’ score and 65% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
In the year 2003, a new movie titled “Shanghai Knights” hit the screens. Directed by David Dobkin and penned down by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, this film finds Wilson and Chan’s characters in London, embarking on a mission for revenge after the murder of Chon’s distant father. The cast includes Fann Wong, Donnie Yen, and Aidan Gillen. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has received a 66% approval rating from critics and 54% from the audience.
It was mentioned that another movie, named “Shanghai Dawn,” was being planned. However, Gough disclosed to Collider last year that following the creation of a script and preliminary verbal agreements with both Wilson and Chan, Jackie Chan decided he no longer wished to participate. That’s about all I can say on the matter.
Both Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights are streaming on Hulu now.
New on Hulu
In August, Hulu’s streaming library expanded significantly, with the addition of not just the two Shanghai films, but also numerous other TV shows and movies. Starting from the beginning of the month, these titles found their way onto the platform owned by Disney. For a complete list of the additions made to Hulu on August 1st, take a look below.
* I’ve finished binge-watching every episode of “Foundation Forward: Season 1”, “Kids Diana Show: Greatest Playtime Adventures” – Season 1, “MTV Floribama Shore” – Seasons 1 and 2, “Survivor” – Seasons 23 and 24, and “Undercover Boss” – Seasons 7 and 11.
* I’ve watched the complete seasons of several movies, including “10 Things I Hate About You”, “28 Days”, “A Simple Favor”, “The Beach”, “Black Knight”, “The Brothers McMullen”, “Click”, “Coyote Ugly”, “Date Night” (2010), “Devil in a Blue Dress”, “The Devil Wears Prada”, “The Diary of a Teenage Girl”, “Did You Hear About The Morgans?”, “District 9”, “Equity”, “Evil Dead” (2013), “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”, “Father Of The Bride”, “Father Of The Bride Part II”, “Forrest Gump”, “The Full Monty”, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy”, “Ice Age”, “Ice Age 2: The Meltdown”, “Ice Age: Continental Drift”, “Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs”, “Ice Age: The Great Egg-scapade”, “It’s Complicated”, “Kick-Ass”, “Old School”, “One Hour Photo”, “The Other Woman”, “Night Shift (2023)”, “Practical Magic”, “Pretty Woman”, “The Proposal”, “Raising Arizona”, “Ready Or Not”, “Resident Evil: Extinction”, “Rio”, “Robots”, “Scarface” (1983), “The Sessions”, “Simply Irresistible”, “Stay”, “Super 8”, “Take Shelter”, “Taken”, “Thank You For Smoking”, “Thirteen”, “Under The Tuscan Sun”, “Weekend At Bernie’s”, and “Win Win”.
Read More
- Gold Rate Forecast
- Wrestler Marcus “Buff” Bagwell Undergoes Leg Amputation
- PS5’s ChinaJoy Booth Needs to Be Seen to Be Believed
- Microsoft is on track to become the second $4 trillion company by market cap, following NVIDIA — and mass layoffs
- AI-powered malware eludes Microsoft Defender’s security checks 8% of the time — with just 3 months of training and “reinforcement learning” for around $1,600
- xAI’s $300/month Grok 4, billed as a “maximally truth-seeking AI” — seemingly solicits Elon Musk’s opinion on controversial topics
- Anime’s Greatest Summer 2024 Shonen Hit Drops New Look Ahead of Season 2
- Lewis Capaldi Details “Mental Episode” That Led to Him “Convulsing”
- Powell’s Exit? A Financial Drama! 🎭
- Minecraft lets you get the Lava Chicken song in-game — but it’s absurdly rare
2025-08-08 16:43