The Forbidden Kingdom
The Forbidden Kingdom’s main selling point is that it’s the first film to team 2 of Asia’s greatest martial arts movie stars, Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Unfortunately for hardcore kung fu fans, The Forbidden Kingdom is not the ultimate badass action movie. Rather it is a toned down family film, clearly designed more for Western audiences than fans of Eastern cinema.
The Forbidden Kingdom features plenty of Chinese flavour, especially in terms of its excellent production design and impressive costuming. However, for all these Eastern touches and some references to Chinese mythology, the storyline at the heart of the film is a tired staple of Western children’s fantasy.
Having recently moved to a new city with his mother, geeky teenager Jason (Michael Angarano) retreats from his problems by devouring an endless stream of kung fu films. This behaviour attracts the attention of a local gang – the most vicious group of movie martial arts bullies since The Karate Kid – and soon Jason is roped into robbing a Chinatown pawn shop.
When the robbery turns violent, Jason finds himself on the run with an antique staff. In the process he is knocked unconscious and wakes to find himself in medieval China. Suddenly Jason is the “Chosen One” destined to return the staff to its rightful owner, the imprisoned Monkey King. This will in turn liberate the kingdom from the cruel, eye-shadow wearing Jade Warlord (Collin Chou).
In the course of his quest Jason learns the true power of kung fu, faces powerful enemies like Sorceress Ni Chang (Bingbing Li), and gains the friendship of a trio of misfit adventurers, each with their own combat abilities… and personal agenda.
So, yes, The Forbidden Kingdom really feels like an Eastern-set Lord of the Rings clone, or a bog-standard Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Still, the film isn’t bad. It’s just very average.
In its favour, The Forbidden Kingdom is visually impressive, and the fight scenes are as thrilling as expected. In terms of performances, Jackie Chan, who plays a scruffy, drunken kung fu master, is the most comfortable presence on the screen. He also provides most of the film’s laughs.
Jet Li also seems to have fun in his dual role as the playful Monkey King and a brooding monk, but like the actresses playing Ni Chang, and assassin Golden Sparrow (Yifei Liu), he seems to struggle with his English dialogue at times, resulting in some rather stilted acting.
If you have young children, The Forbidden Kingdom is an ideal movie outing, packed with largely bloodless action and innuendo-free humour. Ten year olds will love the film and adults looking for two hours of undemanding entertainment are likely to have a good – if completely forgettable – time as well.
The Forbidden Kingdom features plenty of Chinese flavour, especially in terms of its excellent production design and impressive costuming. However, for all these Eastern touches and some references to Chinese mythology, the storyline at the heart of the film is a tired staple of Western children’s fantasy.
Having recently moved to a new city with his mother, geeky teenager Jason (Michael Angarano) retreats from his problems by devouring an endless stream of kung fu films. This behaviour attracts the attention of a local gang – the most vicious group of movie martial arts bullies since The Karate Kid – and soon Jason is roped into robbing a Chinatown pawn shop.
When the robbery turns violent, Jason finds himself on the run with an antique staff. In the process he is knocked unconscious and wakes to find himself in medieval China. Suddenly Jason is the “Chosen One” destined to return the staff to its rightful owner, the imprisoned Monkey King. This will in turn liberate the kingdom from the cruel, eye-shadow wearing Jade Warlord (Collin Chou).
In the course of his quest Jason learns the true power of kung fu, faces powerful enemies like Sorceress Ni Chang (Bingbing Li), and gains the friendship of a trio of misfit adventurers, each with their own combat abilities… and personal agenda.
So, yes, The Forbidden Kingdom really feels like an Eastern-set Lord of the Rings clone, or a bog-standard Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Still, the film isn’t bad. It’s just very average.
In its favour, The Forbidden Kingdom is visually impressive, and the fight scenes are as thrilling as expected. In terms of performances, Jackie Chan, who plays a scruffy, drunken kung fu master, is the most comfortable presence on the screen. He also provides most of the film’s laughs.
Jet Li also seems to have fun in his dual role as the playful Monkey King and a brooding monk, but like the actresses playing Ni Chang, and assassin Golden Sparrow (Yifei Liu), he seems to struggle with his English dialogue at times, resulting in some rather stilted acting.
If you have young children, The Forbidden Kingdom is an ideal movie outing, packed with largely bloodless action and innuendo-free humour. Ten year olds will love the film and adults looking for two hours of undemanding entertainment are likely to have a good – if completely forgettable – time as well.
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