 The
Forbidden Kingdom (Theatrical - 2008)
Lionsgate / 2008
Director: Rob Minkoff
Writer: John Fusco
Cast: Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Michael Angarano, Yeifi Liu &
Deshun Wang
Review By: Adam Tracey
The Forbidden Kingdoms is basically a mix of The Neverending
Story and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Young Jason is an
obsessed Honk Kong cinema fan and while visiting one of this
favorite haunts, an old run down pawn shop in Chinatown, he
makes a discovery that will change his life. He finds a
staff, one of legend, that belongs to The Monkey King a
great and powerful immortal warrior. The Monkey King is the
only one who can stop The Jade Emperor, but to do so Jason
must return the staff to the place where The Monkey King has
been imprisoned. With the aid of a drunken master Lu Yan, a
silent and nameless monk and a young beauty hell bent on
revenge he will travel to the Five Elements Mountain to
complete his destiny.
This is a fantastic and highly enjoyable movie. The sets and
props were beautiful. The action sequences were top notch
and occurred more than you would have expected. And of
course you get a long prolonged face off of Jet Li and
Jackie Chan. The story while simple actually had some depth
to it and a small, but surprising twist toward the end of
the film. There is also a fair amount of well placed comedy
here. |
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As much as the
settings and the fight work is what makes this movie the
thing that really bolsters this movie above others of its
type is the performance of Michael Angarano. Whether you are
a talking Jake Lloyd from the Star Wars prequels or any kid
who has been in a fantasy movie with a similar theme to
often it is the out of place kid who is destined for greater
things that brings down the movie. Sometimes he is not
capable of delivering lines with credibility. Other times he
doesn’t look the part, but mostly they are usually just bad
actors. Angarano straddles the line of the out of place kid
he is in the beginning to the great warrior he is supposed
to be at the end well enough to not destroy the movie. |
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“…a wonderful
movie!” |
| Blurbtastic quotes are
satire and are created for comedic purposes only. They do
not reflect the actual film's review, star rating or
entertainment value. Wildside Cinema does not endorse "quote
whoring." Blurbtastic quotes may not be used without
prior consent from Wildside Cinema. |
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