The Forbidden Kingdom: Not So Epic

Today, I watched The Forbidden Kingdom with my younger brother in a nearby shopping mall’s cinema. I’ve always like watching Jackie Chan and Jet Li in their respective movies both recent and old, old ones. So this collab between the two of them is momentous for me since it has never happened before and may never happen again. But of course, it also felt weird, and I think a lot of people might agree with me, to see an American as the lead actor in a movie where two martial arts icons have collaborated for the first and possibly the last time. I would have wanted a movie top billed by these two rather than the story revolving around an American lead actor.

In short, I was really there for Jet and Jackie. I couldn’t care less about the white guy. Of course, there were the eye candies Liu Yifei (from The Legend of the Condor Heroes) and Li Bingbing (from I don’t know what show).

Sadly though, the movie isn’t as epic as I would have hoped it to be. Of course, there’s Jackie’s classic monkey/drunken master antics and Jet Li’s cold but very cool demeanor in their respective characters but the enormity of their mission lacked the epic proportions that were seen in past epic martial arts movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or House of Flying Daggers or Hero. It just felt awkward. I loved the fight scenes. Jackie and Jet are definitely at the head of their game despite their age. But it just felt weird and I couldn’t put a finger to it.

I loved the film, nevertheless. Liu Yifei was really cute. Li Bingbing was deadly gorgeous. But my eyes always went back to Liu Yifei although it felt weird to hear her talk in English and always refer to everyone, even herself, in third person.

Would I dissuade you from watching the movie? No. Like I said at the start, this may be the last time that these two martial arts legends will collaborate. If there’s any reason to watch this film, that would be it.

Time to wait for Kung Fu Panda.