Anyone seeing Forbidden Kingdom?

[MaxWolf9]

Hey gang,

I know Jeff is into martial arts movies. Are any of you other guys into that sort of thing? I'm a big Jackie Chan fan. He's the best in the biz as far as I'm concerned. Of course, I prefer his Hong Kong flicks over the watered-down fare that he gets put into in the States, like Rush Hour. But I'll still watch just about anything he's in.

The Forbidden Kingdom comes out today, and this is a flick that I've been looking forward to since I first saw the preview. It's starring both Jackie Chan and Jet Li, along with a couple of no-names I've never heard of. From what I've heard, the movie features the same director of photography that was used for Crouching Tiger, as well as the Fight Choreographer from the same movie, Woo-ping Yuen.

It looks like it's going to be one hell of a kung-fu roller coaster. What do you guys think about it so far? I'm definately going to try to see it today.

 

[Helspyre]

I really like Jet Li but I am not so much a fan of Chan these days. I liked some of his older movies, but like you said, most of his movies in the last while have been lackluster in comparison. He is also just a little too goofy for me (like the type of goofy that attempts to make a baby laugh). So, I was a little disappointed to see he was in this, however it looks like it still has potential. And lets face it, they are both great at what they do. Add a fantasy theme, some (hopefully) good special effects and some intense fighting and this could end up being a great movie. So yeah, I definitely want to see it.

On I side note, when I first saw the title of this thread I thought it just said "Forbidden", which made me sad because I won't get to see any of their reunion shows.

 

[MaxWolf9]

Actually, Chan's flair for intermingling comedy with his action is one of the things that most attracts me to his movies. Plus, I also enjoy how he often plays an "every-man" who can get his butt kicked nearly as often as he kicks other people's butts. A good example of this was in Rumble In The Bronx, where he not only shows a good deal of martial skill, but also a healthy dose of reality when it's shown that it still doesn't make him invincible, and he's often on the run from superior numbers.

Jet Li, while I respect him quite a bit, has never been one of my favorites. I've seen a few of his movies, but was a bit turned off by the overwhelming hip-hop soundtracks that accompanied the majority of his US releases. Which is just not my cup of tea. Plus, I always found his movies a little exaggerated for my taste, in that he never seemed shy about using wire-work.

Chan, on the other hand, never failed to impress me by doing all of his own stunts, and sticking to realistic techniques that a person could actually pull-off in real life. Of course, this standard has pretty much gone out the window since he started doing the big-budget US pictures. And I find that really dissapointing. I mean, after all, it was pretty much the guy's trademark. It's what he was known for.

 

[Helspyre]

Rumble in the Bronx is one of his best movies and that movie got me hooked on Chan for awhile. I also enjoyed Supercop and a few others that came out in that period. Eventually though I lost interest.

I don't think the soundtracks are Li's fault. I actually like the exaggerated movies that are in line with a lot of Asian films...I think it's a matter of accepting it as part of the genre. While Li's fighting style may be exaggerated you could also argue that Chan's choreography is exaggerated (I mean, I know he's doing all the stunts, but the actual way the fights are laid out can be equally ridiculous).

Not trying to make this a "VS" discussion but just pointing out that they are very different and I think they both do their own thing very well. Also, Chan's "character" is much more Americanized whiles Li's is typically more traditional. They are just different. Ultimately I think that will prove to be a good formula for this film as they will have very different characters by their nature.

You'll have to let me know what you think. Hopefully I'll get around to seeing it sometime soon.

 

[MaxWolf9]

Well, I managed to catch a showing of The Forbidden Kingdom on Sunday morning. I must say, while it was a very good movie, it didn't turn out to be quite what I expected. It's a very family-friendly flick, and while it does entertain serious moods at times, it never goes so far as to actually show serious bloodshed of any kind. Even when you see a villager stabbed by a guardsman early in the film, it almost smacks of cartoon-ish violence, as not so much as a speck of blood results.

In addition, while the majority of the movie previews I saw implied that Jackie Chan and Jet Li were the actors on center stage, the reality is that the star is a little-known American actor named Michael Angarano, with only a handful of acting credits to his name. In fact, it's unlikely you'll even recognize him -- I know I didn't.

Picture a plot similar to The Neverending Story -- complete with an awkward teen traveling to an alternate, fantasy world, who returns to "real-life" after his journey with a whole new sense of self-worth and inner-strength. I know, I can already hear you smacking your forehead and groaning in the background. But as lame as all this sounds, it really did turn out to be a good flick. Just don't go in looking for anything resembling a serious plot or circumstances.

 

[Helspyre]

LOL. Well, I did notice it was PG-13 which sort of made me wary, similar to when the Alien VS Predator movie came out (I mean what was the point of THAT movie without the gratuitous violence?).

Too many fantasy movies try to appeal to kids these days. Bah.

Thanks for the review. I'll definitely rent it on DVD but I think I'll pass on seeing this one in the theater.

 

[The Wicked One]

i saw the movie last night.
it has Jackie as a drunk scholar who is a master of several styles but prefers to do Drunken Boxing.

Jet Li at first uses his extended sleeves to fight.

this was a very good popcorn flick. id actually buy it.

though i am guilty of collecting very, very underproduced, poorly dubbed, and beyond ridiculous kung fu flicks.

Celestial Souljass (lol in the dubbing/dialouge, slingshot around a tree)
18 Bronze Girls (impotent since the day he was born.......)
Swordsman with an Umbrella (everything in this is so bad its hilarious)

 

[DoomsdayZach]

Saw this a few days ago. Fun movie, definitely enjoyable. The chick with the white hair was suuuuuuper hot. I think i was drooling all over when she came onscreen haha.

Definitely recommended as fun viewing. Not an amazing film, but a hell of a lot of fun.