Forbidden Kingdom
My love of Hong Kong films is well known as is my love of Jackie Chan and Jet Li. So, based just on casting, Forbidden Kingdom was a dream come true. My viewing was delayed until Sunday due to food poisoning, which is unfortunate because I would have made people go see it. (Further examination of food poisoning and the joys of turning 40 may occur in another blog.)
If you've ever seen a Hong Kong Kung-Fu or Fantasy film and liked it, I'd recommend Forbidden Kingdom. It's typical HK Sword and Sorcery with a twist to attract U.S. audiences. It pays a great deal of homage to Drunken Master II and little bits to a lot of fantasy movies including some modern works like Zu and most impressively, Bride with the White Hair.
Yes, it stars a white kid who sorta has a Shia LeBouf thing going for him but they even address that in the movie. Jet Li remarks "Him? He's not even Chinese!" for a great laugh. And his training scenes are well worth it. Colin Chou makes a great baddy and since he's in the upcomming Donnie Yen Flashpoint I'm guessing he's actually pretty good and maybe even deserved (from a skill standpoint) to be Jet's substitute in the Matrix sequels. (Jet was supposed to be Seraph - why do I remember the character's name!?!) Li Bing Bing, who plays the second tier villainess, is really gorgeous _ though maybe it was just the hair No, she's good looking, Asian girls really don't do it for me.
If you're looking for true drama or a great plot then you're probably not a big fan of HK Kung Fu/Fantasy but it's simplistic and passable. The acting is what you'd expect from Chinese actors speaking English. Even Chan is occasionally unintelligible. Much more time was spent on the fights coordinated by the masterful Woo-Ping. The J vs. J duel is even better and far longer than I imagined it would be. In fact the movie is more fighting than I would expect from any U.S. release. I'd say a 1/3 if not more of the actual screen time is devoted to some sort of action/combat. And the fighting, while heavy on the wirework, is beautiful.
One question: why did Jet Li do this after "retiring" from making Kung-Fu films? I don't know. This was honestly a well done example of the HK fantasy genre and if it brings Jet or Jackie some more fame or gets some new viewers to Hong Kong films then I think it was well worth it. But if anyone has an idea let me know
My love of Hong Kong films is well known as is my love of Jackie Chan and Jet Li. So, based just on casting, Forbidden Kingdom was a dream come true. My viewing was delayed until Sunday due to food poisoning, which is unfortunate because I would have made people go see it. (Further examination of food poisoning and the joys of turning 40 may occur in another blog.)
If you've ever seen a Hong Kong Kung-Fu or Fantasy film and liked it, I'd recommend Forbidden Kingdom. It's typical HK Sword and Sorcery with a twist to attract U.S. audiences. It pays a great deal of homage to Drunken Master II and little bits to a lot of fantasy movies including some modern works like Zu and most impressively, Bride with the White Hair.
Yes, it stars a white kid who sorta has a Shia LeBouf thing going for him but they even address that in the movie. Jet Li remarks "Him? He's not even Chinese!" for a great laugh. And his training scenes are well worth it. Colin Chou makes a great baddy and since he's in the upcomming Donnie Yen Flashpoint I'm guessing he's actually pretty good and maybe even deserved (from a skill standpoint) to be Jet's substitute in the Matrix sequels. (Jet was supposed to be Seraph - why do I remember the character's name!?!) Li Bing Bing, who plays the second tier villainess, is really gorgeous _ though maybe it was just the hair No, she's good looking, Asian girls really don't do it for me.
If you're looking for true drama or a great plot then you're probably not a big fan of HK Kung Fu/Fantasy but it's simplistic and passable. The acting is what you'd expect from Chinese actors speaking English. Even Chan is occasionally unintelligible. Much more time was spent on the fights coordinated by the masterful Woo-Ping. The J vs. J duel is even better and far longer than I imagined it would be. In fact the movie is more fighting than I would expect from any U.S. release. I'd say a 1/3 if not more of the actual screen time is devoted to some sort of action/combat. And the fighting, while heavy on the wirework, is beautiful.
One question: why did Jet Li do this after "retiring" from making Kung-Fu films? I don't know. This was honestly a well done example of the HK fantasy genre and if it brings Jet or Jackie some more fame or gets some new viewers to Hong Kong films then I think it was well worth it. But if anyone has an idea let me know