The Forbidden Kingdom: Movie Review

Ok, in all honesty, just like a lot of people, I had really high hopes for this movie. Of course, 2 legends of Kung Fu, and what should you get? Great action and story for it. Apparently... Both doesn't apply. Well, not at all completely.

The movie shows about the journeys of 4 people on a mission to free the Monkey King, Sun Wu Kong. After being imprisoned, the Monkey King's staff got lost, and somehow, with no knowledge, transported to America, guarded by an old Chinese. The part that the kid, Jason (Michael Angarano) gets entangled in the journey is when robbers came in the store that housed the staff trying to steal money, ends up on his hand and gets transported to Old China. Heck, no one even knew how he ended there, and the people around said he somehow fell into the river unconscious. Interestingly, Jason managed to bring US Dollars over there. And he had a change of clothes. Along the way, he meets Lu Yan/ Old Man (Jackie Chan), Golden Sparrow (Liu Yifei) and the Silent Monk (Jet Li) and the journey moves forward.

So that's pretty much the synopsis of the whole thing. Probably that's enough of what you need to know already. Because if you try to figure out what's going on, trust me that you will have a headache. We have no idea how in the world the folks there talk English, because they could still talk Chinese among each other, and Jason wouldn't know. So, whats up with that? And then, the scenes are, well, somehow copying from other Chinese movies, of the past of course. So, I really hope you don't tell yourself to watch the movie to see how successful it is in the end. I can even spoil for you in the end if you want.

But if there are some worthy parts, well, little only should be had here. I think you'll love some of the Kung Fu scenes, but if you ask me, I prefer it better if Jackie had choreographed it instead. Yuen Wo Ping doesn't really live up to my standards. The fight scene between Jackie and Jet is great, with a little humor in the end. The amazing display I felt for, and this may sound a little biased, is that Jackie displayed Drunken Fist, after so many years. Other common and known styles of Kung Fu were shown here also. But for me, the only thing I find best is that fight scene between 2 great legends. That's probably it.

So, if you still want to watch it, sleep through most of it, and then just watched the fight scenes. That's the only thing that does justice to the whole movie. And I must say, I really feel its not worth it for this to be on DVD or Blu Ray. It's a big shame on how this movie turned out, despite the high hopes. Well, you've been warned.