"THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" (2008) Review

"THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" (2008) Review

Set in present time South Boston and Ancient China, "THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" is a martial-arts/fantasy film that was directed by Rob Minkoff. The movie also co-starred two of the most famous names in the martial-arts genre – Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The movie is basically about a South Boston teenage fan of Hong Kong kung fu films, who is transported back in time to Ancient China via a magical staff. There, he must undertake a quest to free the fabled warrior Sun Wukong aka "The Monkey King".

In a nutshell, "THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" is an entertaining action film with strong fantasy and comedy elements. Our two martial arts stars portray Lu Yan – the Drunken Immortal (Jackie Chan) and The Silent Monk (Jet Li), who help Boston teenager Jason Williams (Michael Angarano) free Sun Wukong (also Jet Li) from the clutches of an evil immortal called the Jade Warlord (Collin Chou). 

"THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" is not perfect. To be frank, I only two complaints about the movie. One, the editing by Eric Strand seemed rather choppy. There were moments when the movie lacked a smooth segue from one scene to another. And two, I found the backstory for Jason’s character rather clichéd. It seemed straight out of the rulebook for typical teen angst films that started with 1979’s "MY BODYGUARD". You know what I am referring to - shy geeky adolescent who is terrorized by the local bully, has profound experiences before successfully confronting bully in the last reel. Come to think of it, I saw something similar in the fantasy-comedy, "STARDUST".

Despite the above-mentioned flaws, "THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" is an entertaining movie. Jackie Chan and Jet Li proved that despite their different styles and approaches to the martial arts genre, they could generate screen chemistry together. Michael Angarano is perfectly disarming and funny as the Boston teen who finds himself in an unfamiliar world. Portraying his potential love interest is Liu Yi Fei as Golden Sparrow, a young female orphan who seeks vengeance against the main villain. Speaking of villains, both Collin Chou (the Jade Warlord) and Li Bingbing (Ni-Chang, the White-Haired Assassin) provided a solid villainous challenge to the four heroes.

On the surface, "THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" provides solid entertainment and martial arts action. However, I must commend on two matters. One, I really enjoyed the superb fight sequence between the two martial arts stars – Chan and Li. Whatever expectation I had about their fight, the two stars and fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping more than fulfilled it. I have not enjoyed such a fight scene since Jet Li’s fight with Donnie Yen in "HERO" or the two Michelle Yeoh/Zhang Yi fight sequences in "CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON". I would also like to point out the film’s cinematography shot by Peter Pau. The various landscapes of Ancient China, whether the characters are in the tropics, the forests, the desert or in the mountain regions, are exquisite.

In short, "THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" is an entertaining film filled with solid action, drama, comedy, and great cinematography. As long as you are not expecting another "CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON" or "HOUSE OF THE FLYING DAGGERS", you will not be disappointed.