Just returned from watching Forbidden Kingdom and while I wouldn't rave about it, I did enjoy it. I guess the fighting scenes made up for all of the shortcomings of the film.
Okay, let me nitpick a bit:
1. The first thing that jarred me was the "dual" language of English and Chinese...I would have preferred they pick either one. Since it is a mystical thing anyway, why not give Jason the gift of understanding Chinese. Because, I definitely don't think Lu Yan etc. would have been able to speak English.
2. The brothel scene...the dancers in those bra. I've watched a lot of Chinese movies and know quite a bit of Chinese culture; I doubt in ancient China, dancers would be in bra...too western/modern.
3. Another scene that had me wincing was the scene that seemed to be ripped right off Lord of the Rings. This was the scene when Golden Sparrow was telling them how the Jade Warlord sent his army to kill her parents.
And of course, the plot is just really cheesy. Okay, so what do I like about the movie?
1. The fighting scenes...cool stuff, especially when Jackie started with the drunken fist style. I remember the very first movie I watched with Jackie in it was the "Drunken Master" and how he was taught that style. And loved the scene when Jackie and Jet Li were fighting in the temple.
2. The dynamics between Jet Li and Jackie...those dialogues were good and they had good chemistry.
3. Loved the cinematography...the scenes of at the bamboo forest, Jason's training at the waterfall, the mountains scenery, sand dunes, etc.
4. The twist at the end...we didn't really see Hop's face in the beginning though I had a suspicion that it might have been Lu Yan. And true enough, yes, it was Jackie but aged.
Well, that's the brief review of the movie...if you do have some time to spare and love kungfu movies, do try to catch this one.
Peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment