Review of The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) by Maineutral R — 27 Nov 2013

It's over-the-top, cheesy at times, doesn't take itself too seriously, has a one-note villain and the story isn't any original. However, it also has tons of elements that makes it fun: Jackie Chan and Jet Li finally fight one-on-one, there's a lot of kung-fu fashion and the scenarios are those whimsical chinese environments that are always cool. The Forbidden Kingdom knows how to have a simple story and stretch a lot of it with kung-fu fun that reminds the old glory days of those movies, when Bruce Lee was a martial arts god (and alive...pretty much). The main character and the villain are meeh, but the other characters are very strong and curious (that white-silver haired girl...she's weird, but surely looks cool) and the special effects are very good too. The movie falls into classic save this kind of story, but here is forgiveable, as there's a lot to keep you in this martial arts world.

The Forbidden Kingdom is to become a classic probably by 2028 for sure, but instead of waiting that much, simpy watch it and take it for what it is: a kung fu movie with kung fu battles, chinese mythology and Jackie fighting Jet Li. A fun, but not perfect movie.

I'm really getting tired of the "it was a dream but it wasn't" kind of ending.