forbidden kingdom

Maybe this is just afterglow but I really really enjoyed the film. I didn't even want to watch this but the judd apatow movie I wanted to see was starting earlier and plus my bro couldn't go so me and my dad watched this instead since he isn't a fan of comedy. ugh. I'm glad I chose this movie to see tonight. It was great.

I liked the story a lot. It was generic fantasy type story but it was interesting to me and they took a lot of elements from other kung fu films and blended that in and it all worked for me. I liked the cast. Jet Li and Jackie were perfect and mike angarano played his role good as well. I liked the coming of age/becoming a "man" type aspect and the teacher/student scenes and of course the action. It started off a bit overly fantastical with Jet Li's monkey king flying through mountain tops beating up soldiers and eventually leading to a showdown with the jade king but other than that most of the action was real world with some graphical/rope work help but I didn't mind. This had really good action and action you could see. The duel between jackie and jet li in the temple was Superb! The film also reminded me of lotr in some bits. There were more than a few laughs from jackie chan for the comedy as well.

grade - A

It was refreshing to see Jet Li in a non-serious role. As with Magnus, see this with a group. It was fun, had wonderful cinematography by Oscar-winner Peter Pau, but it ultimately didn't break any new ground.

Solid B.

Agree with the above and all movie-goers should see this movie and not just martial artist fans.

Think Karate Kid 1 to a small degree.

I was warned to stay away from this film and I should've heeded the warning. I was told the first 20-30 minutes were bad then it would get better. Well I sat through the whole thing, the credits have played through, and I'm still waiting for it to get better. I'll admit that I wasn't expecting a whole lot from this and it failed to live up to my low expectations. Sure there were a couple of hot chicks doing kung-fu but that wasn't enough to overcome the horrendoulsly bad opening reel. I like Jackie Chan and Jet Li, but if this is the best they can do then Huston we've got a problem here. This film played like Crouching Tiger Enter the Fist but with a lower budget. I'm glad some of you liked it though.

Grade D

Ya can see how easy it'd be to fix all those creaky old Chinese legends - - all's ya gotta add is a white guy - - and danged if don't all start makin' sense!

Actually, the Chinese mythology survives Forbidden Kingdom not only intact, but actually quite respectfully rejuvenated. Right from the start, with the vintage poster collection and the classic video playing, you can tell that creators Rob Minkoff and John Fusco are clearly some kinda madfanboys.

The story of bringing together four misfits to restore the lost kingdom echoes, not just in China, but through all our genetic heritages. It is a classic tale told true.

Yeah, yeah... it did tend to drag on just a hair in the second act, but the payoff more than made up any deficit incurred by even the most impatient viewer. The humor imparted by the old pro lead hands of the two J's, and the fresh faces of Michael Angarano and Yifei Liu more than make up for any perceived degradation of the old legends.

This viewer rejoiced in a cross-cultural endeavor of such high quality and noble lineage (not to mention, plenty of wonderfully symmetrical ass-kickin')!

12 out of 5