Forbidden Kingdom

[bryant]

Quickie review of Forbidden Kingdom:

Two of the fight scenes are excellent, and the rest are pretty good.

I mean, you’re not seeing it for the plot, which is light. You’re seeing it because it’s the first time Jet Li and Jackie Chan have been in a movie together, and despite the fact that you’re nervous about Rob Minkoff’s directing (I mean, The Lion King?), Woo-ping Yuen is a great action choreographer.

It works out pretty well. Michael Angarano is not a completely embarassing martial arts actor; in particular, during his one extended fight scene, he does a decent job of being outclassed by the Witch of the Wolves. Everyone else is solid, of course. The Jackie Chan/Jet Li fight scene is superb and just about as good as you’d have wanted it to be, even with both of them aging.

And as far as I can tell, all the Westerners involved have a fondness for Hong Kong martial arts flicks. Nobody’s trying to dress this up or make it deep — it’s just another kung fu movie with a big premise and some time travel. Exposition is for art movies. If you don’t know who the Eight Immortals are, you can either find out on your own or live without understanding some of the references.

So I liked it, even though the South Boston accents were abysmal.

Originally published at Imaginary Vestibule.

Comments

[editswlonghair.livejournal.com]

I was just expressing my trepidation about this film on lynxreign's journal earlier today. But seeing the Bride With White Hair in the trailer really piques my interest. How good were her scenes in the movie?

[cityofbeige.livejournal.com]

She's referred to as the Witch of the Wolves in this movie. Her scenes were pretty good, but the "theme music" when she makes an appearance was kinda cheesy.

[tfbretz.livejournal.com]

I thought she was quite good. She's no Brigitte Lin, of course, but she handled the part well and I found it a nice tribute to what is probably my favorite wuxia film.

[bryant]

Yeah, about like this.

[cityofbeige.livejournal.com]

And as far as I can tell, all the Westerners involved have a fondness for Hong Kong martial arts flicks. Nobody’s trying to dress this up or make it deep — it’s just another kung fu movie with a big premise and some time travel. Exposition is for art movies. If you don’t know who the Eight Immortals are, you can either find out on your own or live without understanding some of the references.

As I said in lynxreign's post, if you haven't read Journey to the West or aren't a fan of adaptations of it, you wouldn't get a lot of the plot/references (ie: immortal peach ceremony, Monkey's hair changing abilities, the significance of the staff, the kid's last name being Tripitakas, the Five Element mountains, etc., etc.). But the action is what mattered more than the light plot, and in that respect it was like the classic kung movies, but with the better filming/choreography of "Crouching Tiger...".

Also, I was glad they didn't take the obligatory sexual tension between the kid and the female lead too far... they did a really good job of keeping that subdued.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

*dances* Now I should look for this!!

[foxtown.livejournal.com]

It also has the Great Monkey Sage Equal to Heaven.

I mean any American movie with the Monkey King is a win in my book.