Forbidden Kingdom Review
The Forbidden Kingdom is a retelling of the classic Chinese novel,
Journey to the West with a westernized flair. The story begins with Jason, a teenaged kung-fu enthusiast, looking to buy some new kung fu flicks at a local Chinatown video store. When a bully decides to use Jason to help break into the same video store after hours, Jason finds a magical golden staff that somehow transports him to ancient China, where he meets an interesting cast of characters (that also happen to speak English). Lu Yan (Jackie Chan) is an old wine-loving monk who specializes in the drunken martial arts. The Silent Monk (Jet Li) is on a mission to rescue the fabled "Monkey King," and requires Jason's assistance since the golden staff is the key to rescuing the King. Jason also meets Golden Sparrow (
Crystal Liu Yi Fei), a beautiful orphan that he develops a crush on. Along the way, Jason learns kung fu to protect himself from the dangers that lie ahead of the unlikely group of heroes.
The Forbidden Kingdom was a highly-anticipated film because it marks the first time that the two biggest action stars in the world, Jet Li and Jackie Chan, were able to work together. The film had elements that are common in both Chan and Li films. There was a lot of humor and goofiness akin to the Jackie Chan style of movie, and there were some elements of mythology and ancient history very much like some of Li's older films.
Jet Li and Jackie Chan are definitely the driving force behind the film. We also see a coming of age story with Jason, but this is mostly uninteresting since we're witnessing two of the greatest action stars on the silver screen. This was also Crystal Liu's Hollywood debut, and there's no better way to debut than alongside Jackie Chan and Jet Li.
The movie was just a lot of fun. There wasn't a whole lot of depth in the storyline, but the film made up for it with flashy action effects and great choreography. The movie is a parody, so if you take it too seriously you probably won't get to fully appreciate how great of a movie it actually is. I mean, the ancient Chinese characters all speak English! The emperor is wearing eyeliner and mascara! The movie was obviously meant to be more of a comedy than a serious action movie, and it definitely succeeds at that.
Written by Lance
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Forbidden Kingdom Cast
Jackie Chan as Lu Yan
Jet Li as Silent Monk/Monkey King
Crystal Liu Yi Fei as Golden Sparrow