The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)

Synopsis :
In Forbidden Kingdom, American teenager Jason (Michael Angarano), who is obsessed with Hong Kong cinema and kungfu classics, finds an antique Chinese staff in a pawn shop: the legendary stick weapon of the Chinese sage and warrior, the Monkey King (Jet Li). With the lost relic in hand, Jason unexpectedly finds himself transported back to ancient China.

There, he meets the drunken kungfu master, Lu Yan (Jackie Chan); an enigmatic and skillful Silent Monk (Jet Li); and a vengeance-bent kungfu beauty, Golden Sparrow (Crystal Liu Yi Fei), who lead him on his quest to return the staff to its rightful owner, the Monkey King - imprisoned in stone by the evil Jade Warlord (Collin Chou) for five hundred years. Along the way, while attempting to outmaneuver scores of Jade Warriors, Cult Killers and the deadly White Hair Demoness, Ni Chang (Li Bing Bing), Jason learns about honor, loyalty and friendship, and the true meaning of kungfu, and thus frees himself.


Mark Ramsey from Moviejuice.com :

Forbidden Kingdom is loads of fun!

A kung-fu-obsessed teen browses a Chinatown pawnshop where a magical staff awaits its rightful owner.

"Do you want this magical staff?" asks the elderly Chinese proprietor, whose demeanor and caked-on makeup suggests a much younger actor who has never actually seen an old man unless he's in a movie played by a much younger actor.

"I'm a teenager," says the boy. "My staff is already magical. It just wishes it could conjure beyond that corner of my imagination where the cast of Gossip Girl lives."

Michael Angarano, who's usually cast as "young" versions of bigger stars with more screen time, is the teen who falls off a roof and, thanks to that magical staff, drifts through a dimensional portal into ancient China, suffering no ill effects in transit, except for noticeably puffed-out hair.

"The winds of space and time are nature's blowdryer," Angarano explains.

He looks around and is lost amidst fields of rice and a chest of hair.

Well, one hair anyway. But fields of rice!

This is the ancient China of warlords and swordsmen wearing vast quantities of sparkly eye shadow. "I will fight you to the death!" says the Jade Warlord, "but first...Aesthetician, where's my Ming Maybelline?! Cook, where's my hasenpfeffer?!"

"Blue eyeshadow went out in the 1280's!" Jet Li shouts at the Jade Warlord, and there's no kung-fu move stronger than hurling a catty cosmetics critique.

Enter Jackie Chan, a nutritious part of any kung-fu breakfast. He's a "traveling scholar," a.k.a. "homeless drunk." But a homeless drunk with mad combat skills! And he's not only drunk, he's immortal. Or maybe, like all drunks, he just thinks so. Read More...


Review by Funky Love :
Aku suka banget nonton film ini. Meskipun aku agak telat dateng ke studio, tapi ternyata filmnya belum mulai. Thank’s God! Yah, tak mengapalah kalo aku dapet kursi yang mepet tembok, yang penting bisa nonton ajah.

Openingnya begitu apik, kreatif dan menarik. Film yang digawangi ama Jackie Chan, Jet Li, si imut Liu Yiffei, dan pastinya si ganteng Michael Angarano ini bergenre action. Tapi bukan Jackie Chan namanya kalo ga ada unsur komedinya. Jadi dari awal film ini sampai di endingpun kita disuguhi lelucon-lelucon yang ga segan-segan bikin kita ngakak. Ciamik juga nih sutradaranya, Rob Minkoff, memadukan Jet Li dan Jackie Chan di satu film laga kaya gini. Tapi sayangnya, akting Jet Li kurang memukau. Bukan kungfunya, tapi karakter yang dibawain ama Jet Li ini menurutku kurang pas. Jet Li yang selama ini kita liat sebagai sosok yang kuat, gagah, berwibawa dan garang ini tiba-tiba meranin sosok kera sakti alias Sun Go Kong yang culun dan kiddo gitu. Atau, justru itu yang menarik?
Yang jelas, banyak kejutan-kejutan tak terduga di film ini. Apa, dan siapa yang ada di film ini semuanya patut disimak sebagai obat penawar stress dari kegiatan kantor, sekolah dan bahkan mengendurkan otot-otot ketegangan menjelang UAN. :hehe:

Tenang aja, ga perlu berpikir keras untuk mencerna film ini, karena memang alurnya sederhana, ga rumit, tapi patut diacungi jempol.