The Forbidden Kingdom

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Movie: The Forbidden Kingdom

Director: Rob Minkoff

Production: Lionsgate/The Weinstein Company

Hollywood is always finding ways to further use the element of surprise, sometimes an idea that moviegoers have been dreaming about takes a lengthy process to bring to the big screen. One such idea as always baffled moviegoers on every occasion, the thought of putting two major screen actors in the same film to coincide with together. The film industry has always succeeded in the hype of bringing you that long-overdue film and has always provided that vast element of entertainment keeping audiences at the edge of their seats. Now it has been a long time coming, but moviegoers have always wanted to see two of the most talented martial arts actors come together in the same film for almost a decade now, ever since each of them began appearing on almost every major blockbuster to date. Well, that time is now, Lionsgate along with The Weinstein Company have done what other production companies only wished, they were able to secure the likes of international martial artists, Jet Li and Jackie Chan in a movie that has been the hype for almost a year now.

The Forbidden Kingdom was finally released after promotions all across the world have been hyping this film for a long time. Veteran director and producer, Rob Minkoff, took on the esteemed project and put together a surreal fantasy based plot intertwined with traditional Chinese Kung-Fu themes. The screenwriter created a fictional Chinese fable and fused legendary kung-fu characters into the storyline. The whole synopsis of the film is set upon an American kid obsessed with Kung-Fu movies who just happened to fall upon a magical staff leading him into a journey to China’s feudal past. His journey revolves around a character called the Monkey King and the mission to return the staff to him. While in the process of returning this magical staff, he is met by interesting characters along the way and is taught the arts of Kung-Fu. Jet Li played the role of a Shaolin Monk and the Monkey King, while Jackie Chan played the role of the legendary Drunken Master as he did in previous films. It was real interesting to see these two interact with each other as they performed the roles being themselves. Chan has always been known to play the comedic role, while Li has always portrayed extremely serious roles. The martial arts fight scenes were choreographed by world-renowned Hong Kong fight choreographer, Yuen Woo Ping. Ping has worked with both Li and Chan before in past Chinese films, so putting together the sequence format wasn’t as difficult. Now, the highlight of the film is, of course, when Li and Chan go head to head in an all out martial arts exhibition match showing off each other’s different techniques. To finally see the actual battle on screen was an amazing spectacle, definitely true masters at their best.

On the real, you definitely need to see this movie, what else can I say, it’s Jet Li and Jackie Chan going head to head in an old school kung fu themed movie minus the subtitles and English dubbed voice-overs. The film itself is, for a lack of a better word, rushed. The plot was rushed and the character development was poor, however the fight scenes made up for the mediocre screenplay. Take my word for it, for those 15-20 minutes with those two battling left and right, you’ll be on the edge of your seat.