Rama’s SCREEN

I expected the movie that first brought two great martial art legends to be something extraordinary, but THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM is not amazing but it’s not bad either. It pays tribute to classic Kung Fu movies and its various fighting styles (tiger, crane, snake, you name it). Those of us who are fans of either Jet Li or Jackie Chan will be… pleased with the long fight scene between the two which consists extensive use of wiring and special effects but mostly, the brilliance of action choreographer master Woo Ping Yuen (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon). Re-visit everything you used to enjoy about martial art movies and enter THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM.

A young American finds a magical staff that transports him to ancient China, there he embarks on a journey filled with danger, beauty and adventure. He must learn the ways of kung fu in order to complete the mission of returning the staff to its rightful owner, The Monkey King. With the help of a drunken hobo, an orphant and a Silent Monk, he will have to finish the task in order for him to return home.

This is not the kind of movie you’d watch for the story because I’m gonna be blunt here, the story sucks.
Let me put it in nicer ways, the story is lame, cheesy, predictable with dialogue that are over-dramatic, and dry. Most of the time you can’t understand what they’re saying because the accent is too thick.

Michael Angarano who plays the American who goes back in time to fulfill the prophecy does a pretty good job in this movie. You can tell he’s an actor who’s dedicated to learning something challenging and willing to try it.

As far as humor goes, it has enough to make us chuckle. But there is one particular scene that involves Jackie Chan summoning the rain and what he gets in return. That scene is hysterical. I don’t wanna spoil it for you, you’ll have to see it for yourself.

As far as visual goes, China does most of the work in providing us the beautiful scenery and backdrop.
The special effects are okay… certainly not cheap or mind blowing either, but it works.
The make up to transform Jackie Chan to look like he’s 100 years old is not quite well done but I think it’s done to purposely let us know who it is playing the old store owner.

I grew up watching martial art movies. Most kids in my neighborhood used to breath, eat, and live martial art movies. I grew up watching Jackie Chan back when he was young, the original drunken master. My friends and I were fans of Jet Li’s Once Upon a Time in China movies, the story of Wong Fei Hong.
So even though their first collaboration turns out to be not that impressive. It’s nothing short of entertaining and I hope they’d work together again anytime soon. Maybe in a project that’s not so much influenced by Americans.

You know how some have said that Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven was like the ultimate destination that pays homage to all the western movies he’s ever done since the start of his career.
Well, the same goes for this one too, for both Jet Li and Jackie Chan.

* Place the cursor on the image below to check my grade for this film