Mike’s Reviews

I was so excited when I first heard about the movie Forbidden Kingdom mainly because it stars two of the most popular names in martial arts film Jackie Chan and Jet Li. While I did plan to watch the movie on its opening date, I wasn’t able to do so because I had so many important things to do.

Now that I was able to see the film, all I can say is that I’m not really happy with it. I was not really sure if it was the “Karate Kid” feeling that I didn’t want or the fantasy part of the film. I was never really a fan of both. I also think that the movie is lacking in kung-fu action between Jackie Chan and Jet Li himself. They did have one good fighting scene inside a temple but that was just it. I was also expecting to see them fight a common enemy (The Jade Warlord) together but that didn’t happen.

The actors however did well in their individual acts. Here’s my quick assessment of their acting:

• Jackie Chan (Hop, the thrift store owner/Lu Yan, the Drunken Immortal) - as usual, Jackie did well doing the drunken fist style. Quite reminiscing of his movies back in his early days.
• Jet Li (The Silent Monk/Sun Wukong, the Monkey King) - I was quite surprised to see Jet Li as the Monkey King. I first thought that Jackie would have been a better fit for the character but Jet Li did quite well.
• Collin Chou (The Jade Warlord) - evil and powerful, he was able to portray the character well enough.
• Michael Angarano (Jason Tripitikas, the Traveler) - he was good in martial arts and was a better actor than Ralph Macchio but somehow his young age and the fact that he’s an American still gave me the “Karate Kid” feeling.
• Liu Yi Fei (Golden Sparrow, the Orphan Warrior) - darn she’s gorgeous. She was also able to show that avenging heart that she’s supposed to show.
• Li Bingbing (Ni-Chang, the White-Haired Witch Assassin) - she was supposed to be evil but I somehow didn’t feel that in her character. I think it’d have been better if she was given more actual fight scenes instead of her just using her hair in fighting.

All in all, I may not be a great fan of Chinese fantasy stories but I’d say that the movie’s storyline is interesting - especially the immortals. I would have given it a good rating if more focus was given to the Chan and Li instead of trying to give equal attention to all the main characters.

For lack of action and focus, I give this movie a rating of 3 out of 5. I simply expect more.

Official Site: http://www.forbiddenkingdommovie.com/