Movie Monday: Shanghai Noon

This week for Movie Monday I’m covering a movie that I had some real trouble remembering the name of. It’s Shanghai Noon!

Plot Synopsis:In 1881, Chon Wang (pronounced as John Wayne) is a Chinese Imperial Guard in the Forbidden City. After Princess Pei-Pei (Liu) for whom Wang has affection, is abducted and taken to the United States, the Emperor of China sends three of his guards along with the Royal Interpreter to retrieve her. Wang is not one of the three, but he tells the Captain of the Imperial Guards that it was his fault the princess was kidnapped and insists on joining them. The Captain first refuses, but when the Royal Interpreter, Wang’s uncle, offers to allow Wang to come help with the baggage, the Captain agrees in the hopes that the “foreign devils” would get rid of Wang. In Nevada, Roy O’Bannon is an outlaw who, with his gang, hijacks the train Wang is on. When Wallace, a new member of Roy’s gang, kills Wang’s uncle, Wang chases the outlaws down.

Plot: The plot is nothing amazing, but pretty fun to watch with plenty of martial arts scenes mixed in with the classic western shootouts.

Casting: The cast is awesome, with Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson in the lead roles. They are both hilarious. The rest of the cast is just as great, but really don’t get nearly as much attention as the two lead stars.

Cinematography: The production is awesome, with some amazing martial arts sequences that are quite a lot of fun to watch, in addition to the western shootouts. There aren’t a ton of special effects used, but those that are, are done fairly well.

Overall: A fun movie to watch, but don’t expect an amazing story.

For those who like: Westerns, Martial Arts, Comedy, Action, Adventure, Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above, but how can you hate all that?

Anime Sunday: Trigun [Anime Review Only]

This week I’m covering one of my friend’s favorite anime series it’s Trigun!

Plot Synopsis: Trigun revolves around a man known as “Vash the Stampede” and two Bernardelli Insurance Society employees, Meryll and Milley, who follow him around in order to minimize the damages inevitably caused by his appearance. Most of the damage attributed to Vash is actually caused by bounty hunters in pursuit of the sixty billion double dollars bounty on Vash’s head for the destruction of the city of July. However, he cannot remember the incident due to retrograde amnesia, being able to recall only fragments of the destroyed city and memories of his childhood past. Throughout his travels, Vash tries to save lives using non-lethal force. He is occasionally joined by a priest, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, who, like Vash, is a superb gunfighter with a mysterious past. As the series progresses, more about Vash’s past and the history of human civilization on the planet Gunsmoke is revealed.

Plot: The plot is generally pretty light, but it gets really serious in the last couple of episodes. The action is pretty great, but the plot was lacking for me. This could be just because of a poor adaptation of the Manga due to the publisher being discontinued until another one picked up the series.

Characters: Vash is pretty awesome, but I love how Meryl has a freaking coat full of derringers it’s pretty funny. Also what’s up with that freaking black cat.

Artwork: It’s got some pretty amazing artwork, but it’s nothing like the stuff you see today. It was amazing for it’s time though.

Music: I don’t remember much about the music, but it was pretty good.

Overall: If you enjoy a rather lighthearted action series this will be right up your alley.

For those who like: Lighthearted series, Action, Sci-Fi meet’s Westerns, Drama.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.