John Wayne, The Bad Guy? Essay, Research Paper

John Wayne, the Bad Guy?

If you are in a mood to watch an action movie, flicks of fast flying fists or serious gunfights may enter your mind. If you are in a mood for a comedy, the use of exaggeration or sarcasm could play an important role in your movie selection. Due to the characters personalities, music, and fight scenes, Shanghai Noon fits into both of these categories while maintaining a western theme.

Placed in 1881, Carson City, Nevada, surrounded by landscapes, Chinese immigrants, and bounty hunters, imperial guard from the Forbidden City in China, Chon Wang [pronounced John Wayne], played by Jacky Chan, and outlaw Roy Obanan, played by Owen Wilson, have to fight the masses of discrimination and stereotypes to learn about each other and ultimately become better friends to save the kidnapped princess, Princess Pei Pei (Lucy Lui).

Although the movie takes place in the late 1800 s and in a western setting, that fact is quickly forgotten due to our modern day views and linguistics implemented in the film. Lines like, O.K. you just lost your wingin it privileges , or The justice system is all screwed up are just a couple of many that are spread through the movie that help take your mind away from the western movie stereotypes.

Princess Pei Pei is your typical kidnappee; she gets kidnapped and cannot escape and typically falls in love with the hero in the process. Making it easier for himself, the kidnapper, tricks Princess Pei Pei into leaving the Forbidden City on her own will to go to America.

Chon Wang is confused in the beginning of the movie. He is sent from the Forbidden City, his homeland, to rescue the princess. Once he gets a little more used to the new culture, he settles in quite nicely with his new friend, Roy. He does have a lot of questions when he finds out that he is a bad guy . Although not always understanding, he goes with the flow with one goal in mind, to rescue the princess.

Roy Obanan is a fun loving guy. Always joking around, there is no situation that he will not crack a couple of sarcastic remarks about. The jail scene or the couple of showdowns with the marshal shows this quite nicely. Even with a gun pointing at his head, he musters up some sort of sarcastic humor. Roy is sincere, but sarcasm lingers whenever he talks.

The fight scenes are unpredictable too. If you hear western fighting, what do you think of? More people than not would assume or picture two people in a stand off. With one or two stand offs, the movie is focused more on the hand-to-hand karate combat skills of Chon. Although Roy may not know karate, he does know Karazee and he will use it when necessary.

During these fight scenes the camera angles and close ups are magnificent. The director did a great job of making the audience feel like they where right there inside the action. Along with this the music fits the spot every time. During a fight scene, the music is the heartbeat; the music speeds up and slows down on cue with the actors.

This is a great movie. I love Roy Obanan. He is a terrific character. I m not sure how I would feel about him if Owen Wilson did not act him. Owen did a great job acting out Roy Obanan, a terrific Character. The fight scenes and music drew me further into it as well. Although a typical story line, it was done in a different, impressing way. I enjoy comedies above all other type of movies, but this movie fits into other categories making it fun for many audiences.