The Forbidden Kingdom get together the two most representative actors of martial arts movies like Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The result of this makes a very entertaining and enjoyable movie with magic, fantasy, lots of action, very good comedy and adventure. Its like mixing a Hollywood blockbuster with spectacular special effects with a traditional Chinese kung-fu movie having as a result a mind blowing film. They bring some of the Chinese myths to form a very original story and a very interesting and original plot about an American teenager obsessed with kung-fu classic movies, when he discovers the legendary stick weapon of the Chinese sage and warrior, the Monkey King, he unexpectedly finds himself traveling back to ancient China to join a crew of warriors from martial arts lore on a dangerous quest to free the imprisoned Monkey King. The film began with a good rhythm, turning a little slow in the middle but finishing to the fullest. The cast is very good, Michael Angarano role was good, Jackie Chan as Lu Yuan, a drunk kung-fu warrior, is very good, his performance was excellent, Jet Li s the Monkey King and a monk was very convincing, Yifei Liu, the golden sparrow, her acting job was very decent and Colin Chou is the Jade Warlord, his performance was excellent, so powerful. In conclusion, The Forbidden Kingdom was a very entertaining movie you will enjoy from the very first minute and very recommended for everyone.
I think a collaboration with Jet Li and Jackie Chan could've been done alot better than this. It's certainly Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon meets First Strike, not really a healthy combination....ie basically great visual effects but not so great storyline. Still an enjoyable watch though
if you like jet li and chan, fighting it out, then great, but if you hate annoying teens getting in the way, not so great, as a all american teen gets transported back in time to become the next something or other, with guidance from lee and chan, some great action throughout, from the two, but story is all wrong for these two talents
A warp back to traditional chinese fighting movies, and sappy over predicable plots makes this movie great. No really, it is. It embodies the qualities of the OLD Jet Le movies that we all used to love to read the English captions on.
From what I can see, people need to have an understanding of Asian ideas of art to like this movie. Art does not need to (and preferably won't) be realistic. The main point of art is the idea behind the art, not how real it looks. Think more about impressionism than realism, if you want a western equivalent. :D
What an exciting magical kung fu fantasy epic this turned out to be. Exquisite cinematography and special effects were very tastefully done and the martial arts choreography was excellent. This is the first time Jet Li and Jackie Chan have worked in a movie together. They were both great as usual and Jackie was hilarious with his famous drunken style. The plot was easy to understand and everything seemed to work to perfection. One of the most enjoyable movies I've seen in a while. I highly recommend it.
Excellent movie. It is rare to have two such martial arts actors as Jackie Chan and Jet Li in the same movie without one being in the others shadow. each plays at least two characters in this movie and are wonderful in them.
I've always wondered when Jackie Chan and Jet Li would be in a movie together and Forbidden Kingdom was the answer, I thought of it as a disney movie with tons of action, special effects and a cool adventure story with humorous moments.
good plot except for the cheesey fighting....the monkey king....and the girl with hair for a whip....if they had made if more realistic it would have been so much better....oh yeah and no flying. If it had dragons in it i think i would have liked it better
The Forbidden Kingdom marks the first collaborative experience for Jackie Chan and Jet Li, two action-film marvels fans have been clamoring to see bounce off walls and pummel bad guys for decades now. Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano) is your average youth from Boston who's obsessed with kung fu movies. His main supplier is a shop in Chinatown. While looking around one day, he discovers a staff that's been in the shop three generations, waiting to be returned to its rightful owner. During an attempted robbery, Jason attempts to defend the store and its owner, but becomes transported to ancient China. There, he encounters the scholar-immortal Lu Yan (Jackie Chan). Lu Yan recognizes Jason's staff and tells him they must journey to return the staff to its rightful owner, the Monkey King. Only when the Monkey King is awakened can the cruel reign of the Jade Warlord end. Along the way Jason will receive help from a monk (Jet Li) and a girl called Golden Sparrow (Yifei Liu). Their big battle, in essence a standoff between grace (Chan) and gravitas (Li) is a sight to behold. But I thought it would never end. The movie looks flat, the CGI backdrops. Forbidden Kingdom would have been much more than a mere meeting of two kung fu kings. As it stands, we have to suffer through 90 minutes of mediocrity to get a half hour of fabulous flying fists. Some of it was worth the wait, but I found myself at times checking to see how much time until the movie was going to be over with. Both Li and Chan appear in top form, and their one-on-one contests are the picture's lone saving grace. That is, until a scene comes along that has Li urinating on Chan's face. Then you kind of forget the film has any merit whatsoever. Kingdom is a stiff, disturbingly ill-conceived fantasy film.
These movies with Chinese philosophy, legend and kung fu always have a spot in my heart.. Watching them I feel peacefull.. Totally loved this one and of course.. Jckie Chan and Jet Li!!!!!!!!! 4 stars just because of the fight scene they have together!
When the film began with the Monkey King (Jet Li) wire-working his way across mountain tops and fighting soldiers I was dreading the rest of the movie but it's probably the worst part of this movie (unless you count the girl Sparrow who talks about herself in 3rd person all the time). It was great to see Chan back doing the Drunken Fist plus it's worth checking out his fight against the monk (also played by Jet Li). It was about time they were pitted against each other. Now all we need is Van Damme and Seagal to battle...actually scrap that...Chuck Norris and Mr.T - now there's a real battle! Hollywood, where's the script?
This had a good story to it, but didn't like all the flying. That is old now. There were some good fighting scenes. Jet Li has always been my favorite. Some of the stuff in this movie was a bit cheesy.
The choreograhpy is nice, but It is easy to tell that Jackie Chan and Jet Li are starting to age (especially Chan). The movie also relies abit too much on wire fu instead of the classic Hong Kong style.
Inspired teaming. Both Jackie Chan and Jet Li are excellent and ther fight sequence against each other is the highlight of the film. Entertaining all the way.
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