The Forbidden Kingdom (2-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray]
Individually, they've starred in the most adrenaline-pumping martial-arts adventures ever. Together for the first time, Jet Li and Jackie Chan join forces to create the greates epic of them all- THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM. As ancient Chinese warriors, they must train and mentor a 21st century kung-fu fanatic who's been summoned to fight a centuries-old battle and free the imprisoned Monkey King. If you're a fighting fan, the wait is over. The team is ready. The Kingdom has arrived.
Getting martial-arts superstars Jet Li and Jackie Chan together in the same action film is like a fantasy come true, even if The Forbidden Kingdom is more of a children's movie than an instant kung-fu classic. Yes, Li and Chan square off in a lengthy, acrobatic fight scene that is a lot of fun, though it can't be what such a scene might have been even a decade ago: careful editing now compensates for the 54-year-old Chan's slower moves and reflexes. Still, Chan doesn't disappoint as Lu Yan, a drunken immortal in ancient China who mentors a modern-day American kid, Jason (Michael Angarano), the latter having slipped into the past while in possession of a magical staff that belongs to the imprisoned Monkey King (Li). In order to get back to his own time and help an old friend (also Chan) wounded by thugs, Jason accompanies Lu Yan and a lovely warrior, Golden Sparrow (Liu Yifei), on a journey to return the staff. Along the way, a (mostly) silent monk (Li, again), who has spent his life in search of the staff, joins their mission. He helps Lu Yan train Jason in fighting and adding more muscle to the party as it comes under siege from a violent witch (Li Bing Bing) and pathological warlord (Collin Chou). Screenwriter John Fusco (Hidalgo) and director Rob Minkoff (The Haunted Mansion) have made a slightly chintzy, Western version of a Chinese swords-and-sorcery tale. The gravity-defying, flying-through-the-air-while-fighting choreography looks pretty choppy and graceless compared to, say, the martial arts films of Zhang Yimou. But The Forbidden Kingdom is really aimed at kids, not aficionados of epic fight movies. On that score, the movie aims to please and does so for the right audience. -- Tom Keogh
Beyond The Forbidden Kingdom on DVD 
The Forbidden Kingdom Soundtrack |
Stills from The Forbidden Kingdom (click for larger image)
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The Forbidden Kingdom (2-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray] Reviews
If you like this as well, you will probably enjoy this movie too. It has great special effects and costumes. I like all of this so I enjoyed this movie. The Forbidden Kingdom contains ancient martial arts, good storyline, Taoist wisdom, and supernatural abilities.
In all, a nifty movie, and one for the whole family. There is good character development as the kid discovers strength inside himself and becomes a hero (that's the wish fulfillment part). The production values are wonderful, the acting and direction are excellent, and the plot line is well developed and takes you to a good wrapup of all the plotlines. This is a fun teen-age martial arts wish fulfillment movie.
The movie is just so much fun that any flaws that can be found are quite easy to overlook. Yifei Liu, Li Bing Bing and Michael Angarano provide solid performances and are able to hold their own along side Li and Chan. The Forbidden Kingdom may not be a Martial Arts flick for the ages, but I have to say I really enjoyed this one. One would have figured by this point in their careers some filmmaker would have tried to cash in far earlier. This may not be Fist of Legend, but this is as fun of a movie you'll come across. I've seen a few movies written by Fusco I find his work entertaining.
With The Forbidden Kingdom the script isn't perfect, but has a good mix of light drama and good comedy as well as in my opinion very likeable and fun characters. Woo-ping Yuen has been involved in some of the greatest action movies ever made and while The Forbidden Kingdom may not be his most impressive work in his career, but it's still better than most of what we see in Hollywood. Obviously the highlight of the movie is the fight scene with Jet Li and Jackie Chan; fans of these two are bound to love that and it runs at a good length and granted it may not be their strongest work, but it still gets the job done and is bound to put a smile on the faces of the viewer. The pacing is solid and never lags at all; each scene is as entertaining as the last and while Minkoff doesn't make a perfect film he does make a very fun film. The picture is crystal clear and it really enhances the movie watching it on Blu-ray. But despite any flaws The Forbidden Kingdom makes a solid flick for these two Icons to team up together.
The fight scenes are excellent, but not quite on par with Yuen's other movies, but the fight scenes are fun and the viewer should enjoy it. This is very far removed from what he's known for and again I really didn't know what to expect. The Forbidden Kingdom is by no means one of the great Martial Arts flicks, but for what it's worth it is one of the most fun times you'll have. Who knew the director of such movies as The Lion King and Stuart Little could make such an entertaining action flick. This isn't gonna go down in history as one of the greats, but due to the first teaming of Li and Chan it will go down for that.
The Forbidden Kingdom marks the very first time in the Iconic careers of Jet Li and Jackie Chan that they have worked together; fans of both these superstars are bound to have high expectations, but keep in mind this is an American production and in general Li and Chan, while making some good movies in the States they don't hold a candle to their Hong Kong flicks. Despite any flaws The Forbidden Kingdom is highly enjoyable. I'm still new to Blu-ray, but The Forbidden Kingdom will be tough to top. Who knew it would take this long. This may not be one of the all time great screenplays, but it works well and is highly entertaining. The performances are strong for the most part and Jet Li & Jackie Chan are fun to watch and both seem to be enjoying themselves with their roles. Writer John Fusco (Young Guns & Young Guns II) does a fairly good ob with the script. The action scenes are solid and overall Rob Minkoff makes one of the better American action movies the past few years.
The Blu-ray looks simply amazing. When you have Woo-ping Yuen doing the fight scenes you know right off the bat no matter how the movie is overall the fight scenes will be good. But I have to give Rob Minkoff credit he actually does an excellent job. Going into The Forbidden Kingdom I wasn't sure what to expect with Rob Minkoff directing.
A must see film. Amand. What a fabulous film - stunts and scenes were something else.
It was unique enough that I bought the DVD for it, I am huge fan of martial arts/action movies and this one has a lot of it. One of my favorite movies that I watched in 2008.
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