The Forbidden Kingdom

I had my mom watch the movie with me, yes I'm still a mommy's boy despite being a rebel and all. Anyway, the long awaited film was nothing short of wonders. Not everyone might like the movie but hey, to each his own.

Magically transported to ancient China by a twist of fate, Jason Tripitakas(Michael Angarano) finds himself holding the legendary Golden Staff of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King. Along the way, he meets Lu Yan (Jackie Chan), Xiao Yanzi A.K.A Golden Sparrow (Liu Yifei), and The Silent Monk (Jet Li), who aids him in his mission to return the Golden Staff while teaching him the way of martial arts in hopes of freeing the Monkey King and finally returning Jason back to modern day Boston. It simply a western made Wu Xia film, paying homage to kungfu legends(during the intro) and lifelong accomplishment of Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Collin Chou stars as the Jade Warlord, a villain whom I thought could equal that of Mr.Smith from The Matrix trilogy. And finally, Li Bing Bing as the White Witch (yes, a tribute to the Bride With White Hair)

Unfortunately, the whole film falls short of expectation with Jet Li as Monkey King. He didn't look half like it nor had the nimbleness and agility of Sun Wukong, in fact he looked like a very old man with overgrown golden hair. The only time when Jet Li displayed any nimbleness was during the eight minute duel with Jackie Chan, using the Mantis Fist Style. Meanwhile, I guarantee you'd be amazed to find Jackie Chan disguised as an old man at the start of the movie.
If you're able to catch the plot at all, it quite an entertaining movie, in fact it left me wanting more. There are profound moments when Lu Yan and The Silent Monk teaches Jason kungfu. Somewhere between the lines of what I remembered, Lu Yan said, "kungfu can be applied even to the butcher who is so skillful that when slicing meat his blade does not touch the bones, or the poet whose poems are so graceful that it touches the emperor himself and makes him weep." Or during a short scene when Jason asked The Silent Monk, what if he freezes from hypothermia and Jet Li's character simply replies, "don't forget to breathe."

If you're a Zen buddhist, or have any knowledge of Zen, you'd be able to catch the famous Zen koan, Empty Your Cup when Jason Tripitakas tries to tell Lu Yan that his cup is full and the drunken immortal tells him, "exactly, how can you learn when you already know so much? Empty your cup!"

All in all, this is quite an enjoyable movie but don't expect much. Most dialogue in the movie is actually English and as my mom commented, "funny isn't it? even the Jade Emperor can speak English." In reply I simply say, that's why they're deities mah!