The Forbidden Kingdom

A

Alide

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The Forbidden Kingdom: 3.5/5

I really rather enjoyed it :) Better than I thought it would be. Reminded me of The Karate Kid for some reason.
There was a good, if brief fight between Jackie and Jet but I often thought the fights were too SFX like. Not enough real fighting :) Jet looks dumb in the Monkey King make up though :D
Some nice little references to other HK classics (the posters at the start of the movie, the film on TV) and also The Bride With White Hair and Come Drink With Me. :) The name of Liu Yifei's character, Golden Sparrow is a reference/pastiche to Golden Swallow, Cheng Pei Pei's character in the 1966 King Hu film.
She also tells the villain to "Come drink with me" when confronting him near the end
Maybe she could be in a CDWM sequel? :D ;) She's a cutie :)
 
I enjoyed the film as a fantasy adventure but I agree that films that don't get the SFX correct just don't come over well.

Jet Li has been using wires for years but it's only fairly recently (considering Chan's overall career) that Jackie Chan has had to bow down to the technology (I bet his insurance company is happy :D)


It was a bit like De Niro v Pacino. They really didn't fight too much as they both had to be good guys.
 
What I loved about this film is that it felt like the family adventure films of my youth in the 80s.

If Spielburg had made a kung fu film in the 80s, this it pretty much what you'd have got.

Also, loved Li's Monkey King portrayal, and thought the wirework was well handled, and very respectful to that cinematic tradition.
 
The Monkey King was good fun :) I've never seen "Journey To The West" but its probably on HK DVD.
I wish there was a girl like Golden Sparrow in my town :(
Reminded me of Iceman Cometh as well with characters exsisting in both worlRAB/times.
 
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