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If you haven’t watched The Forbidden Kingdom, DON’T RUSH. Read this review and decide if you wish to watch or not in the end. I’ll try to keep it short and simple, even though the movie itself is already TOO SHORT AND SIMPLE!
The Storyline
Basically you get nothing. A kungfu crazy boy traveled back in time through the Gate of No Gate (lame name for a time portal / wormhole or whatever you name it)) to save the famous monkey king from the evil Jade Warlord with the help of several parties. It’s totally a no brainer. Characters from various novels are put together to patch up a broken story. More about the characters will be discussed later.
The Cast and Characters
Technically Silent Monk (默僧) and Lu Yan (吕岩 aka 吕洞宾) are the 2 dominant characters which can be considered excellent. The rest are redundant. Records had shown that Chinese literature masterpieces often failed miserably when the epics are conveyed through the limited interpretation of modern Hollywood wisdom ( ada wisdom meh?) and this one is no exception either. First you mix 孙悟空, 吕洞宾, 白发魔女 and 金燕子 together and to me, this trick sucks big time for you are dishonouring the essence of the epic. Secondly, even if you want to make a “rojak” by mixing and copying, at least provide some bridging information about the relationship between various characters. People may know 孙悟空 but not everyone knows 吕洞宾, 白发魔女 and 金燕子. The dilemma occurs all the time for if you have previously studied those characters, you will be surprised by the “creativity” of the production team to make something out of TOTALLY non-relevant stories. Worse still, if you don’t know the characters and their respective background, the entire movie will be a total crap for you enter the cinema only to come out with more questions like who the hell is XXX and why XXX and YYY are enemies etc. In the movie it is obvious that the veterans Jet Li and Jacky Chan dominate the scene with their exceptional fighting and acting skills. Collin Chou and Li Bingbing also contribute well to the respective characters but definitely not Crystal Liu and Michael Angarano. Their awkward facial expression and body language lead to the failure of the characters in winning the hearts of the crowd.
The Scene
Hollywood movie makers are good at taking breathtaking shots and this time they deliver what they have promised. Anyway, the Jade Warlord Palace is similar to the Minas Tirith in LOTR and the waterfall near the 5 Element Mountains is similar to the waterfall in the elven village in LOTR also.
The Sountrack / Sound Effects
Yes, nothing much can be complained as everything blends well into the motion sequence especially during various fighting scenes. I would consider buying the OST when it is released.
The Kung Fu
A stunning showcase of Praying Mantis Fist (螳螂拳), Drunken Fist (醉拳), Long Fist (长拳), Snake Fist (蛇拳), Tiger Fist (虎拳) and Crane Fist (鹤拳) can be found during the duel of Jet Li and Jacky Chan. The best part is that the sound of the fist changes according to the types of fist used. When Jet Li executes the praying mantis fist, the sound of moving leaves can be heard. Jacky Chan on the other hand executes the tiger fist and the sound immediately changes into the roar of a tiger. The sound effects compliment the action and I believe this scene worth all your money for the movie ticket.
Conclusion
- If you are a martial art lover who doesn’t wish to use your brain, you can watch this movie.
- If you want to experience the scene and the soundtrack / sound effects, you can watch this movie.
- If you long for the battle between Jet Li and Jacky Chan, you can watch this movie.
- If you do not know the characters, and do not have the intention to explore the development of characters, you can watch this movie.
- If you know the characters, yet you are curious of how they mix everything into one single package, you can watch this movie.
- If you do not belong to the above 5 classes of people, save your money, this movie is definitely not worthy of your penny.
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