Product Description
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While hunting down bootleg kung-fu DVDs in a Chinatown pawnshop,
Jason Tripitikas makes an extraordinary discovery that sends him
hurtling back in time to ancient China. There, Jason is charged
with a monumental task: he must free the fabled warrior the
Monkey King, who has been imprisoned by the powerful Jade War
Lord. Jason is joined in his quest by wise kung fu master Lu Yan
and a band of misfit warriors including Silent Monk. But only by
learning the true precepts of kung fu can Jason hope to succeed -
and find a way to get back home.
.com
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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 s-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 ed at kids, not aficionados of epic fight movies. On
that score, the movie s to please and does so for the right
audience. -- Tom Keogh
Beyond The Forbidden Kingdom on DVD
The Forbidden Kingdom Soundtrack (
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Stills from The Forbidden Kingdom (click for larger image)
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