Linbeymusol
Wonderful character development!
Console
best movie i've ever seen.
Caryl
It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.
lewiskendell
I'm a huge fan of martial arts flicks. Anything from Hero to Shaolin Soccer to 3 Ninjas to Ninja Scroll - they are all right up my alley. Add my love of these kinds of movies to the fact that The Forbidden Kingdom has both Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and it should be one of my favorite chop-socky films of all-time, right? Not so fast.While watching The Forbidden Kingdom, I just could not shake the idea that the makers of the movie were convinced that the fans of Jackie Chan and Jet Li were going to automatically flock to their film, so a lot of effort in order to make the movie actually good just wasn't necessary. Even though it is rated PG-13, it seems like it was made with a younger audience in mind. There is none of the cinematic complexity of Hero, none of the breathtaking fight sequences of Crouching Tiger, and none of the brutal violence of Ong-Bak. It all is just so safe and standard. I do not really even get where the PG-13 rating comes from, it could have been rated G, without the alcohol references and gun scene.I was disappointed with nearly every element of this movie, and a few very pretty female actresses are not even enough to make me give it a higher score. It is cool to see Jackie Chan and Jet Li fight with and beside each other, but that should have only been the starting point to a much more complete project. There have been some simply epic martial arts movies in the last 10 years, and they leave no reason to recommend a by-the-numbers, fantasy-tinged flick like The Forbidden Kingdom.
William_x_Lee
Sorry, this is americanized Hollywood garbage. It has no relevance to any actual Chinese history, Kung Fu, or anything even remotely compelling. Seriously, outside of the fight scenes between Chan and Li, the lead star is annoying and unconvincing. Karate Kid, Chinese style? yeah sure. But if we have a film with arguably the two best martial artists of this era,shouldn't we get more than a fluffy, semi PG rated love story, and watered down tale of redemption? This is not even a good Saturday afternoon children's film. This is why Hollywood should stay out of the martial arts business. This is a lame attempt to appeal to that teeny bopper generation, whom they captured with films like karate Kid back in the day. Now, it's just bad filmmaking. Cut out all oft he kid's scenes, and you might have a movie. As it stands, this garbage is a waste of time and money. Guess somebody needed a quick pay day. Overly ambitious, yet fails deliver on any front.
Leofwine_draca
THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM is one of those Asian-loving Hollywood movies that always seem to have the need to cast a Western actor in the central role in case audiences are put off by seeing a foreign face as the lead. Thus we get THE KARATE KID remake with Jaden Smith and BULLETPROOF MONK with Seann William Scott. This film features the very first on-screen pairing between Jackie Chan and Jet Li, but the whole plot is centred around an American teenager who becomes involved in a mystical Chinese adventure.Put simply, I could have done without the kid. He's not great, and he's a distraction, getting in the way of what we really want to see, which is more Jackie and Jet. Thankfully, they do both get quite a lot of screen time, which means that THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM is a fairly enjoyable movie. Jackie plays his Drunken Master role for the most part, while Jet Li has fun in a dual role as both the Monkey King and a mysterious monk. Their eventual showdown in a massive martial arts battle is doubtlessly the highlight of the movie.The rest of the film is okay, and features some passable villain duties from the reliable Collin Chou. In comparison to the other films Jackie had done in Hollywood, it's pretty decent, and it's a lot better than the previous Chinese version of the story I saw, MONKEY MAGIC. That's not to say it's brilliant, because it's a bit too cheesy, stylised and reminiscent of THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR to be a great film, but kung fu fans should enjoy it if only for the presence of the two genre icons.
l-p-proctor
The Forbidden Kingdom is like a Cheesy-Chan version of "The Neverending Story". The plot is predictable and the action is so cheesy that it is hard to watch. I think I actually nodded off once or twice while watching it.I will say that the antics of Jackie Chan and the strong silent monk style of Jet Li actually complimented each other quite well. I was just disappointed in the choreography and the way the camera angles highlighted them. Many of the fight scenes drag on too long and are simply too complicated.Overall, I would say that it is worth seeing if you have younger teen boys and you want a clean movie for them to watch.
