The Forbidden Kingdom

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The Forbidden Kingdom
It isn't really a secret that when it comes to martial arts films, I know almost nothing. Sure, I know the big names and I have seen the more famous films, but they have never been my thing. The biggest reason is this new (or is it old?) thing where everyone is attached to wires and it is completely obvious. They might as well not even remove the wires because nobody is fooled.
That said, I actually liked this movie. It's mystical and has beautiful scenery and it's nothing like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
It was very fascinating to see Jet Li and Jackie Chan in the same film because their fighting techniques are so different. Jet Li is always serious and Jackie Chan is always goofy. The fighting scene between the two men was probably the best 15 minutes of the film. It was really exhilarating to see two great actors and martial arts legends come together. The best part about the film is the fight seemed very real - no fake flying. The choreography for the fighting scene between Jet Li and Jackie Chan was beautiful. It was almost like a dance just with a lot of kicking. It was intense and it was hard to say who was going to win because they were both so good. They also used cool techniques that I recognized from playing too much Mortal Kombat.

The film is about a geeky kid named Jason, played by Michael Angarano (Sky High, Lords of Dogtown), who gets picked on by a bully. I suspect his role was created purely to appeal to all the white kids out there and to the masses of course. Jason is a fanatic of kung fu. He watches kung fu movies, has a room filled with posters of Bruce Lee and he even dreams about kung fu. In the opening credits we roll around Jason's room, getting to see all the old kung fu movie posters. Jason often goes to a pawn shop where he buys his kung fu movies. Now this is in Boston's Chinatown, but it doesn't look like it. In fact it reminded me more of LA than Boston. But that is such a small part of the film so perhaps I shouldn't be so nitpicky. One day he discovers a staff in the back room of the pawn shop. It's the staff that he's been seeing in his dreams. The owner tells Jason the staff has been there for many years and that he is waiting for the rightful owner to pick it up.

Jason is given the staff after getting into some trouble and is transported into a different era of China. This is where he meets Lu Yan (Jackie Chan) and The Silent Monk. (Jet Li)

There is a myth in China that there was once a monkey king who no one could defeat as long as he had his staff. However, he was tricked by the Jade Warlord and his staff was lost. The prophecy said that it would be returned by a man who would help save the people of China from the warlord's torment. The man happened to be Jason, a white boy. It was funny when The Silent Monk first meets Jason and realizes he is the key to getting the staff back to the monkey king. The first thing he says is, "He's not even Chinese." Nice powers of observation.

Michael Angarano was the perfect person for this role. He looked geeky, acted geeky but fought wonderfully. I can't imagine signing onto that film, knowing what he would have to learn and who he would be working with.

Jet Li does a wonderful job and luckily didn't have to wear a wig. Jackie Chan looked ridiculous with long hair but he was as funny as ever. The film was remiscent of Warriors of Virtue meets The Karate Kid with a spattering of The Neverending Story. Some of the villains are over the top, the effects are formidable, and fight scenes frequently disobey the laws of physics, but it’s all part of the fun. 7/10
Recommendation: A lot of fun but probably even more so for the martial arts enthusiast.