The Forbidden Kingdom

Set in ancient China, The Forbidden Kingdom is a mix of cinematic influences. The Forbidden Kingdom stops short of tiresome and of brilliance. It is quality cheese.

Nerdly Kung Fu enthusiast Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano) spends enough time at the local video store go get chummy with the owner Old Hop. When old hop is attacked, he entrusts Jason with a great task, return an ancient staff to the rightful owner. The magical staff transports him in time to the time of the Jade Warlord (Collin Chou) and the Monkey King (Jet Li). Soon he realizes he is way over his head, help (Jackie Chan) is around but may not be enough to complete the task.

It is impossible to watch The Forbidden Kingdom without getting the feeling you've seen this before; and not in a bad way. I generally don't point to the obvious influences in a movie but I am going to make an exception for The Forbidden Kingdom because the influences are so strong. The opening scene screams The Princess Bride as a fanciful fight scene breaks the boundaries of what is realistic but in a playful and charming way. One of the main themes of the movie, learning, will harken you back to 1984 and ring the long forgotten bells of Mr. Miyagi and Danielson and may leave you to asking, "Wax on or Wax off?" Some of the feelings The Forbidden Kingdom evokes reminded me watching Bastian read of Atreyu's epic quest in The Never Ending Story. A young white man used as a vessel for teaching Asian people what they should already know, as previously seen in The Last Samurai. Hair inspired from Aeon Flux can be spotted. Fight scene chorography and style often resembles Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Even Lord of The Ring made an appearance in set design, special effects, camera movements and military scenes. I have never seen a movie that lovelingly rips off so many other films but still kind of works.

In fact, there is nothing original about The Forbidden Kingdom but I didn't really care. I ducked, dodged, rolled my eyes, shook my head and watched with amazement the fight scenes as they unraveled in front of me.

The fight chorography is fairytale'esque, using wires, height and width. Jackie Chan and Jet Li only fight each other once in the entire movie though, which I found disappointing but there is no shortage of fights. There is even a chick-fight to look forward too.

So, why in the hell did I like it? It was mindless, familiar, butt-kicking, cherry blossom dripping fun. There are times I don't want to think, I want to escape into a squeeze can lactose story and I am not ashamed. Right before I thought The Forbidden Kingdom would go over the edge, and shame could be involved, director Rob Minkoff pulls it back, thankfully saving the audience.

I foresee that The Forbidden Kingdom will be one of those movies that strike love and hate into the audience at large. I wouldn't say I loved, but can you hear the hiss of Easy Cheese?