The Forbidden Kingdom
The battle for eternity is the fantasy of a lifetime.
Individually, they've starred in the most adrenaline-pumping martial-arts adventures ever. Together for the first time, Jet Li and J ackie Chan join forces to create the greatest epic of them all - The Forbidden Kingdom. As ancient Chinese warriors, they must train and mentor a 21st- century kung-fu fanatic who's been summoned to fight a centuries-old battle and free the imprisoned Monkey King. If you're a fighting fan, the wait is over. The team is ready. The Kingdom has arrived.
Member Reviews
A Mess of a Mish-Mash - Doom
Clearly written by someone who had only the vaguest conception of Chinese history, culture and myth. I find it pretty telling that even in a movie 90% of which is set a long time ago in China - the protagonist is still a white dude. The story is a laughable mess.
The fight scenes were okay, I suppose. The best one is clearly when Jet Li fights Jackie Chan - and there's only one of those! I blame this mostly on the director, and on the fact that both Jet and Jackie are getting a bit old for this game (that being said, they both pull off some pretty cool moves).Clean Ninja - simarddj
I actually enjoyed The Forbidden Kingdom. If you come into the movie knowing it will be from the point of view of the kid then you do get yourself drawn to it. It felt like I was watching an Anime ... the fight scenes are fun and extreme to watch and the FX aren't bad. Just a fun popcorn Saturday night movie with the whole family.on a journey right down the middle of the road - clauditorium
A teenage kung fu fan magically (and against his will) gets to go on his own kung fu adventure. This could have been a lot worse. The kid is surprisingly tolerable (it helps that he takes a lot of abuse), there are some pretty good fights, and the story, a Karate Kid-Star Wars mash-up, kept me fairly interested, if not invested.
This is the first film to feature martial arts movie stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li together. I should point out that I've never seen any of the latter's films, and the only thing I've seen Chan in is Around The World In 80 Days. But I imagine their fans must be pretty disappointed this is their first joint venture. For one thing, the kid is the main character, and the movie is geared at his age group, so not much edge is allowed. Also, though the fights were choreographed by a master (Woo-ping Yuen, who's worked on the Kill Bill and Matrix films), they were filmed by a man who usually directs kiddie fare. The result is that you'll feel like you're watching a good fight, whereas in the hands of a director like Quentin Tarantino, you forget you're watching a movie. Not to mention illogical moments that have the bad guys hover, waiting for the hero to dispatch an opponent before moving in. The movie as a whole needed a higher dose of internal logic to make the audience give a crap about what happened on screen. For example, the kid becomes a skilled martial artist in the space of a couple of weeks. Also, a teenage girl character serves rather obviously as nothing more than a plot appendage to balance out the largely male and adult cast.
So, not horrible, but kind of a waste of time.
Member Reviews
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A Mess of a Mish-Mash - Doom
Clearly written by someone who had only the vaguest conception of Chinese history, culture and myth. I find it pretty telling that even in a movie 90% of which is set a long time ago in China - the protagonist is still a white dude. The story is a laughable ...Clean Ninja - simarddj
I actually enjoyed The Forbidden Kingdom. If you come into the movie knowing it will be from the point of view of the kid then you do get yourself drawn to it. It felt like I was watching an Anime ... the fight scenes are fun and extreme to watch and the ...on a journey right down the middle of the road - clauditorium
A teenage kung fu fan magically (and against his will) gets to go on his own kung fu adventure. This could have been a lot worse. The kid is surprisingly tolerable (it helps that he takes a lot of abuse), there are some pretty good fights, and the story, a ...