The Forbidden Kingdom
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Movie Reviews of The Forbidden Kingdom
Movie Review: quite a bit better than expected
Summary: 3 Stars
The long-awaited collaboration between Jackie Chan and Jet Li may have worked better 10 years ago, when the actors were still in their prime. When you consider the ages of the two (Chan at about 53, and Li at about 44, when this was filmed) they did do an amazing job. I'll be lucky if I can operate my TV remote by the end of this year. This is the most enjoyable work I've seen from Chan since "Who Am I" or "Gorgeous" in the late 90's. Li still looks good in performance (he does some fantastic stick-fighting), and we might still have a little while with him.
The plot is a cross between "The Never Ending Story" and "The Wizard of Oz", with a dash of "The Karate Kid" and "Highlander" thrown in. Point being: It's silly. Bearing that in mind, it's very well executed and visually stunning. Plus it contains a crapload of references to various Shaw Bros and Wuxia films. HERE GOES: A young martial-arts-movie-enthusiast named Jason (Michael Angarano) dreams about the Monkey King (Li) at night before entering an old store in Chinatown run by the elderly Hop (Chan), who sells bootleg DVDs. Some bullies then use Jason to break into Hop's, since he knows the owner. During the chaos, Hop is shot by the gang leader. Despite his injury, Hop gives Jason an old staff and tells him it must be returned to its rightful owner. Jason runs away from the gang to a nearby rooftop, where he is magically whisked away to ancient China! Having no idea how he got there, he wanders around until he is attacked by soldiers, who are looking for the staff. He is helped by a wandering drunk named Lu Yan (Chan, again), who tells him that the staff belongs to the Monkey King, and must be returned to him, and kept out of the clutches of the evil Jade Warlord (Collin Chou, "Flash Point", "Fearless") who imprisoned the Monkey King in the first place. Joining them along the way are Golden Sparrow (Yifei Liu), a young girl whose parents were killed by the Jade Warlord, and a monk (Li, again), whose vested interest is also to return the staff to the Monkey King.
The fights are done by Yuen Woo Ping, and while pretty good, could have been better. I know that he's the man when it comes to martial arts choreography, but I've grown tired of his style, especially concerning wires. He just doesn't seem to know when to say when. Luckily, this is the type of movie where it's more in keeping with the story. After all, this is a fantasy movie with plenty of magic. Hell; the Monkey King, the Jade Warrior, and Lu Yan are all immortals. In fact, Lu Yan is one of the 8 Drunken Immortals, referenced in a style during Chan and Woo Ping's 1978 classic "Drunken Master". One thing I will say about the fights is that there are quite a few of them, so I shouldn't gripe too much. There are some pretty sweet (and very creative) moments during the action, the highlight of which is the fight between Chan and Li. Their fight could never live up to its expectations, but it's still a lot of fun, much like the rest of the film. Even the character of Jason does some cool stuff in the last act. I rented this, and am considering purchase, so I musta liked it quite a bit. At the very least, this is the best martial arts fantasy aimed at kids since "Surf Ninjas".
Upon its initial release, there were already 3 versions of the disc, including Blu Ray. This DVD is in widescreen with fantastic picture quality. The xtras are plentiful, but I was hoping for some interviews with the two leads, whose behind-the-scenes antics are barely glimpsed during the other features. It's in English and some Cantonese with subtitles available in Spanish. This also has running commentary by director Rob Minkoff and screenwriter John Fusco. Fusco's script is based on the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West". I would love to see a serious movie about the legend of the Monkey King. He is the trickster of Chinese mythology, and I'm fascinated by his folklore. 3.5/5
2008
Movie Review: Martial Arts Double Torch-passing (Plus It Is Fun)
Summary: 3 Stars
Jet Li and the great Immortal Jackie Chan bear their respective ages well. Li has had personal problems of monumental proportions, and shouldn't be making movies at all. Chan as I said is Immortal, long live he!
Yet this film is a clear and rather pathetic torch-passing to the lithe and cute Michael Angarano ("Little Secrets", "Sky High")...is he deserving? From what I see in this film, he certainly fares better than Chuck Norris or the later Steven Seagal.
Angarano plays a strange little teen who likes 'kung fu' movies, and is acquaintances with an ancient, played by Jackie Chan, who happens to sell/rent Chinese dvds from his old curiosity shop. Kid stumbles into room, finds the Monkey King's staff, gets his little white butt transported back to ancient China, meets YOUNG Master Chan (a Taoist Immortal who never really got his chance) and also meets a Buddhist monk (Li) who turns out to be a 'facet' of the Monkey King.
Action ensues, and I must say that Chan, Li and Angarano are satisfying enough...why bitch endlessly about the camera tricks? Can you people spell "INSURANCE"?? Hollyweird don't like real martial arts in film anymore! Even Chan's latest ouvre, "Jackie Chan Presents Wu-su", has clever tricks to hide the inexperience of the young fighters. I shan't spoil the storyline further. Watch it yourself. I won't spill the magic beans.
The fact is, "Forbidden Kingdom" is something we never see nor will be likely to see again: TWO, not one, great martial arts stars are passing their torches to this terrific American kid. Go and do likewise, they are telling him, make buku bucks and many kick-butt films. Angarano, I can tell, he's up to it man!
This kid is going to be the new Chuck Norris.
One thing: do not expect to see the proper original story of the Monkey King here. The Monkey King is a great and famous Chinese Buddhist fable. Some believe the Monkey King was a real-life Buddhist cleric who could fight monkey style, or who loved monkeys, or something along those lines. He's a Zen riddle.
Is "Forbidden Kingdom" a good film? Well, I liked it and I ought to know. It has everything: clumsy fight scenes that could have been better, weird dubbing for Jet Li who nevertheless does his own speaking parts, corny and poorly filmed story arc. They come much, much worse than this.
What I really want to know is boiled down to two things: WHY did Chan and Li wait til NOW to do something together? And, why did they annoint Angarano in the first place? I love this kid, but right now lacking experience he is not yet martial arts hero material. Ah well, neither was Chuck Norris in the beginning. (Remeber Norris got his start as the bumbling idiot who got beaten up by Master Bruce Lee.)
Watch, all fans: get this great film because I think the answers lie in its future. It's fun, Chan is fun, Li is fun in his usual sourpuss fashion, and Angarano is fun, fun, fun--and I don't just say that because I think he's cute.
Movie Review: Kung fu for kids - think "Neverending Story" meets "Drunken Master" and "The Bride with the White Hair"
Summary: 3 Stars
A kid who's into martial arts movies becomes the unlikely protagonist of an epic struggle between good and evil in ancient China. When the aging owner of his favorite pawn shop is shot by local toughs, he entrusts Jason with returning an ancient staff to its rightful owner. It turns out Jason can't do that without passing into another world, where the ruthless ambition of the Jade Warlord threatens to overthrow a peaceful empire. When he gets there he's way out of his league, and finds help only in the guise of a drunken warrior (Jackie Chan) and a pacifist priest (Jet Li), and of course, a beautiful young woman of his own age on a revenge quest. It's the classic tale of a reluctant hero, entering into a fantasy world and discovering in himself the confidence and skills needed to face up to his problems in the real world. It's a westernized version, for kids, of the classic wuxia film, with larger than life heroes fighting in ways that defy gravity and the other basic laws physics, but look pretty impressive. It's a nice introduction to the martial arts film for young people, and I found it surprisingly enjoyable. Consider it the next step for kids who like martial arts and action films but who are a bit too old for Kung Fu Panda. It's an intriguing update, for this generation, of eighties films like The Neverending Story.Movie Review: The Lord of the Forbidden Narnia Kingdom Ring
Summary: 3 Stars
With anyone but Jackie Chan and Jet Li, this film would be forgettable. The story and the production blend elements of Journey to the West, Narnia, and Lord of the Rings in an unremarkable western take on wuxia, the traditional Chinese marital arts drama. Apparently first developed as a bed-time story for the American screenwriter's son, the plot has a certain unaffected charm that manages to shine through the film's over-polished veneer and poor choices in casting. No one could possibly believe that such slight, rail-thin women could put a whipping on anything but a salad bar, and it's hard to work-up any sympathy for Michael Angarano as the point-of-view character, who with his sad hang-dog face and whiny demeanor fairly invites the bullying thats heaped on him. His transformation from a pasty wimp unlikely to fight his way out of a room of kindergarteners into a kung-fu warrior is embarrassingly laughable.
Ultimately it's Jet and Jackie that make this a film worth watching. Their fluid movement and comedic timing leave the other fighters looking clumsy and overly earnest. The highlight of the film is the pair's extended fight scene, an amazing pairing of talents not likely to be seen elsewhere in martial arts cinema for some time to come. See it now while you can, but be prepared for lots of incredulous eyeball rolling and spot-the-Rings-and-Narnia-references.
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Movie Review: no "eye of the tiger" moment here.
Summary: 3 Stars
Plot: Jason, a kid from the city who is well versed in kung fu movies, gets transported to some parallel Chinese universe so he can return a staff to the Monkey King (played by Li). The Monkey King was tricked and frozen in stone by some other evil kung fu guy. Along the way, Jason meets a drunk (played by Chan) and monk (also played by Li) who help train Jason in kung fu fighting so he can return the staff to the Monkey King.
The camera work was not too crazy so you could actually see the artistry in the fights. The best fight scene had to be the one, mid movie, b/n Chan and Li's characters. I wish there were a little more laughs, better script, and the English was a little easier to hear (thick accents). The wirework in the fight scenes was pretty obvious during some parts (and not just during the Monkey King scenes where it seemed to be intentional). Chan's drunk character was a little too slurry for me and Li's Monkey King character was a little too flippant. I thought the third person talk by Golden Sparrow and the hair parts at the end of the movie were pretty random and out of the blue.