Review of The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) by Talitha B — 01 Feb 2010

This is a truly well done adventure tale with lots of well choreographed martial arts sequences, more than a few giggles and laughs, and a nice little romantic twist. The opening plot is a little hard to get into and the Monkey King was a bit over the top for my taste, but I truly feel that the rest of Li's performance, Chan's brilliant compliment to it, the elaborate fight scenes, and the overall beautiful aesthetic of the entire film made up for it and then some.

You just have to get past the first 15 minutes or so, then it's great. I'm sure a younger audience, who can suspend their perception of reality a little quicker, would get into it right away. However, older audiences can better appreciate the humorous aspects of Li and Chan's character's relationship, an interesting version of the "married old couple" routine.

Even the ending has a sweet way of redeeming itself. All in all, I'd definitely recommend seeing at least once.