The Forbidden Kingdom

2008 "The battle for eternity is the fantasy of a lifetime."
6.5| 1h44m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 18 April 2008 Released
Producted By: The Weinstein Company
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.forbiddenkingdommovie.com/
Info

An American teenager who is obsessed with Hong Kong cinema and kung-fu classics makes an extraordinary discovery in a Chinatown pawnshop: the legendary stick weapon of the Chinese sage and warrior, the Monkey King. With the lost relic in hand, the teenager unexpectedly finds himself travelling back to ancient China to join a crew of warriors from martial arts lore on a dangerous quest to free the imprisoned Monkey King.

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Director

Rob Minkoff

Production Companies

The Weinstein Company

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The Forbidden Kingdom Audience Reviews

Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!
ThiefHott Too much of everything
MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting
Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic
packor I'll just cut to the chase. If you've watched any other Jet Li movie, you would probably notice that all the action scenes in this movie are slow and awkward. The realism of the fight scenes is as low as that of Dragon Ball:Evolution. That maybe a slight exaggeration, but it's bad. Great fighters are pointless if you make them perform bad fighting scenes.As for the story, there's nothing interesting to it. Some kid goes on a magical journey, there are some fights, he goes back home and decides to fight some goons, and that's it. It touches on some Chinese lore and stories but there's no explanations about them, nor is there any in-depth story nor development of any kind, it's basically just an action movie.In closing, this is an action movie, but the action is terrible. It's not worth watching.
Leofwine_draca THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM is one of those Asian-loving Hollywood movies that always seem to have the need to cast a Western actor in the central role in case audiences are put off by seeing a foreign face as the lead. Thus we get THE KARATE KID remake with Jaden Smith and BULLETPROOF MONK with Seann William Scott. This film features the very first on-screen pairing between Jackie Chan and Jet Li, but the whole plot is centred around an American teenager who becomes involved in a mystical Chinese adventure.Put simply, I could have done without the kid. He's not great, and he's a distraction, getting in the way of what we really want to see, which is more Jackie and Jet. Thankfully, they do both get quite a lot of screen time, which means that THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM is a fairly enjoyable movie. Jackie plays his Drunken Master role for the most part, while Jet Li has fun in a dual role as both the Monkey King and a mysterious monk. Their eventual showdown in a massive martial arts battle is doubtlessly the highlight of the movie.The rest of the film is okay, and features some passable villain duties from the reliable Collin Chou. In comparison to the other films Jackie had done in Hollywood, it's pretty decent, and it's a lot better than the previous Chinese version of the story I saw, MONKEY MAGIC. That's not to say it's brilliant, because it's a bit too cheesy, stylised and reminiscent of THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR to be a great film, but kung fu fans should enjoy it if only for the presence of the two genre icons.
l-p-proctor The Forbidden Kingdom is like a Cheesy-Chan version of "The Neverending Story". The plot is predictable and the action is so cheesy that it is hard to watch. I think I actually nodded off once or twice while watching it.I will say that the antics of Jackie Chan and the strong silent monk style of Jet Li actually complimented each other quite well. I was just disappointed in the choreography and the way the camera angles highlighted them. Many of the fight scenes drag on too long and are simply too complicated.Overall, I would say that it is worth seeing if you have younger teen boys and you want a clean movie for them to watch.
cshep Jackie Chan and Jet Li team up for a rather interesting tale of oriental folklore in the search for the "Forbidden Kingdom."After obtaining the mysterious "staff", Chan and Collin Lou must discover its' history, and fight the forces of evil.I found the story capable of maintaining a high level of interest and the story moves at a sustainable pace. Very good visual effects.While some might consider it a cross between "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Drunken Master", there are similarities, flying people and a hysterical Chan, the film does stand on its' own, and delivers a very exciting conclusion. The White Haired Witch Demoness Ni-Chang(Li Bing Bing) is terrific and as ruthless and nasty as they come.8 out of 10 rating.Michael Angarano does a fine job.