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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

MyReview: Forbidden Kingdom

Last Thursday, I was invited by Nuffnang once again for another movie press screening. This time it is Forbidden Kingdom.







As I have watched the trailer before, I know that this movie is going to be in English. Yes, Jackie Chan and Jet Li will be speaking in English most of the time. It all starts with Jason () a fans of Shaw Brothers' kungfu movies having found a golden staff in an antique store ran by an old Chinese man.



He was then teleported in to another world which look like China and sound like China but I don't think it's China. I think it is Jason's fantasy world of the Shaw Brothers' kungfu movies. At first everyone only speaks in Mandarin but after Lu Yan said to Jason "Because you're not listening hard enough", suddenly everyone knows how to speak in English. In this world, Jason found himself as the chosen one (sounds familiar) to return the golden staff to the Monkey King (Jet Li). As he travels, along the way he met Lu Yan (Jackie Chan) which is a master of Drunken Fist style of kungfu, Golden Sparrow (Liu Yi Fei), The Monk (Jet Li), and chased by villain like the Bride with White Hair (Li Bing Bing), and the Warlord (Collin Chou).



For those of you that is not familiar with Shaw Brothers' movie, Golden Sparrow is a character in of their movie Come Drink With Me (大醉俠) which is played by Cheng Pei-Pei who is famous for the role of Silver Fox she played in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.





Travelling through the dessert like Journey to the West



Interesting thing to note is that some of the character from like the immortals are from the story Journey to the West, the first time we see Monkey King God and The Heavenly King speaks in English. Shaw Brothers also made a few movies on the story Journey to the West. Also the villain Bride with White Hair is another character from another movie that is based on a martial arts novel written by Leung Yu-Sang.







The Bride with White Hair (Li Bing Bing)



This is why I say this is a fantasy world of the kungfu movies cramped into one. One have to really watch this movie with open mind to appreciate this movie. Two of my friends watched and they told me it is not too bad at all. Not many films you'll get to see Jackie Chan fighting Jet Li.





Dueling it out between Lu Yan & The Monk






Fighting over a stick? Both got your own, right?


Jokes aside, one of my favourite fight scene is Jackie Chan fighting the soldiers with his 8 Immortal Drunken Fist style kungfu. I like his movie back in the late 70s which is comical kungfu fighting.







Lu Yan teaching Jason the way to do a good fart




Golden Sparrow (Liu Yi Fei)





The Warlord (Collin Chao)

Overall, it's quite an entertaining flick if you watch it with an open mind and accepting that Jackie Chan and Jet Li speaks in English. It's more for the American market, it's opening week is top in the Box Office in US. You must first empty your cup to fill in more tea.

Rating: 3/5

13 comments :

joshuaongys said...

lol the way to do a good fart hahahhahaa

Pam Song said...

that liu yi fei chick quite pretty huh?

C said...

at first, i didn't appreciate the movie because i thought the storyline was ultimately lame... however, after you did explain almost every detail i need to know about the movie, i've decided to give 3 out of 5 instead of a 2 i previously gave. :/

HairyBerry said...

'You must first empty your cup to fill in more tea.'..wah, deep stuff there! :)

and what kinda title is "come drink with me'?? haha..sounds like a comedy to me...

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

dpds on what u want to get out from a movie..i generally find jackie chan movies a good way to pass time..let me watch myself dis wkend..

Anonymous said...

im watching this tonight!

cindyluv said...

I've watched this last week, the way they speak are so .. robotic. But I like the fighting scence between Jet Li and Jackie Chan! And Li Bing Bing daaaamn pretty.

eiling lim said...

yalah i felt so blur not able to recognise Joyce la. probably too dark and drunk! haha Heritage mansion tonight? I heard it's by invitation only.

ling239 said...

hope to catch this during the weekend... ^_^

Linora 'Aronil' Low said...

Nice review :P But i still wanna watch it. And my my the girl is quite pretty, but i think the bride is wayy cooler :P I love your caption of teaching the dude how to fart.

Simon Seow said...

joshua: lol. I watched too many old kungfu movies.

pamsong: yeah, pretty but one of my friend prefer Li Bing Bing.

yeong: thanks, glad my review gave you more insight.

nic: yeah, real deep. Come Drink With Me actually got a bit of comedy inside, not a very serious kungfu movie.

joe: yeah, you can't expect Jackie Chan movie to be Academy Award material.

jason: kewl

cindy: yeah the fight is so kewl. Li Bing Bing got feminine look.

eiling: lol, you can put in your RSVP on the Facebook event.

ling: hope you can watch it this weekend.

aronil: Thanks. My review is bad review meh? I didn't say I don't recommend this movie right?

Anonymous said...

we enjoyed Jackies Chan's 80 days in English so should be comfortable with this one too ( we hope ) !
tho we dun think jet li can speak properly even in chinese

Dabido said...

Li Bing Bing Looks hot with the white hair! :-) Golden Sparrows Pipa looks identical to mine! :-)