All prices are subject to change. Shipping costs are for the most economical method available, and apply only within the United States. In some states, sales tax may be added.
DESCRIPTION
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 swords-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 aimed at kids, not aficionados of epic fight movies. On that score, the movie aims to please and does so for the right audience. -- Tom Keogh
Beyond The Forbidden Kingdom on DVD
Soundtrack
on Blu-ray
Stills from The Forbidden Kingdom click for larger image
