The Forbidden Kingdom (Variety, Screen Daily Reviews)

[dleedlee]

"The Forbidden Kingdom"
A Lionsgate/the Weinstein Co. release presented with Casey Silver of a Casey Silver production, in association with Relativity Media, in co-production with Huayi Brothers Media Group. Produced by Silver. Executive producers, Ryan Kavanaugh, Woo-Ping Yuen, Jon Feltheimer, Raffaella De Laurentiis. Co-executive producers, Willie Chan, Solon So, Steve Chasman, Jason C. Lin, David U. Lee. Directed by Rob Minkoff. Screenplay, John Fusco.

Old Hop/Lu Yan - Jackie Chan
The Monkey King/The Silent Monk - Jet Li
Jade Warlord - Collin Chou
Golden Sparrow - Liu Yifei
Ni Chang - Li Bing Bing
Jason Tripitikas - Michael Angarano
Lupo - Morgan Benoit

Those salivating at the thought of Jet Li and Jackie Chan going mano-a-mano are likely to be among the more disappointed customers for "The Forbidden Kingdom." While top-billed duo do indeed occupy plenty of screen time, this is basically the latest version of that post-"Star Wars" fantasy concept in which only a middle-class white teenage boy can save the universe from, y'know, Evil. On its own terms, it's a handsome albeit unexceptional juvenile adventure shot on some magnificent Chinese locations by d.p. Peter Pau. Biz should be healthy if unspectacular, with stars boosting Asian markets, and strong ancillary sales.

Script by John Fusco ("Young Guns," "Hidalgo") is loosely based on the classic Chinese epic "Journey to the West," incorporating nods to various other mythological and kung-fu movie conventions.

Apart from framing segs, animator-turned-live-action helmer Rob Minkoff ("The Lion King," "Stuart Little," "The Haunted Mansion") shot exterior and studio sequences entirely in China. Yet the cliche-ridden opening heralds this as a formulaic view of the exotic East through Western pop-culture-trained eyes -- specifically those of Jason (Michael Angarano), a Boston teen enamored with kung-fu movies.

He buys bootleg DVDs at the Chinatown pawnshop of Old Hop (a prosthetically aged Chan), and happens to spy an ornate golden staff in a back room. Later, school bullies led by Lupo (Morgan Benoit) force Jason back to the pawnshop for a robbery attempt that leaves Old Hop shot. While grasping the staff, Jason is magically whisked away, waking up inexplicably in what appears to be an ancient Chinese farming village that's promptly ransacked by soldiers of the tyrannical Jade Warlord (Collin Chou).

(story detail)
Jason is captured, then rescued by Lu Yan (Chan), an inebriated passerby whose drunk-fu nonetheless foils a passel of armed men. The two repair to a teahouse, where Lu Yan explains the Yank lad must be "the seeker" destined to fulfill a prophecy by returning the golden staff to its owner, the Monkey King (Li), trapped in stone centuries ago by his likewise immortal foe, the Jade Warlord.

Attacked again, the duo escape and are joined by Golden Sparrow (Liu Yifei), an orphan determined to avenge her parents' murder by the Jade Army. Then white-clad Silent Monk (Li) turns up and endures a lengthy temple fight with Lu Yan before it's discovered he's on their side.
Now Jason has two masters -- poker-faced monk and wine-scarfing poet -- to pummel his hitherto nonexistent fighting skills into shape.

Among the perils the quartet face are crossing a desert and combating the Warlord's white-haired witch ally Ni Chang (Li Bing Bing). Climax takes place at the Jade Palace, amid a riot of CGI effects and Woo-Ping Yuen's fight choreography. Still, there's that Boston bully to be dealt with, in a groan-inducing epilogue.

While a professed Chinese cultural enthusiast and advanced martial-arts student himself, scenarist Fusco plays safe in multiplex terms, not reinventing or paying witty homage (a la "Kill Bill") to Hong Kong action conventions so much as bending them to fit routine Hollywood blueprints.
This material -- particularly its generic dialogue -- doesn't give the thesps much chance to shine past sheer physical exertion and iconic presences. While Chan and Li bring their accumulated charisma to the table, pic won't be remembered as more than a paycheck highlight for either of them. If the goal was to cast an all-American lead as ordinary as possible,
Angarano (seen to much better advantage in indie drama "Snow Angels") fits the bill to a fault, despite his eventual athletic prowess.

On the upside, "The Forbidden Kingdom" is brisk and colorfully realized, with excellent contribs not only from Pau's handsome widescreen lensing and the impressive Mainland sites deployed but also from Bill Brzeski's splendid production design and Shirley Chan's costumes.

Camera (color, Panavision widescreen), Peter Pau; editor, Eric Strand; music, David Buckley; music supervisor, Adam Smalley; production designer, Bill Brzeski; supervising art director, Eric Lam; set designers, Fu De Lin, Lu Zhi Kui, Huang Wei Min; set decorators, Wen Yu Ci, Lan Bin; costume designer, Shirley Chan; sound (Dolby/DTS/SDDS), David Wyman; sound supervisor, Tao Jing; action choreographer, Woo-Ping Yuen; visual effects supervisor, Brian Adler; visual effects, Macrograph, Digital Tetra, Footage; line producer, Hester Hargett-Aupetit; associate producers, Philip Lee, Mathew Tang; assistant directors, Ken Siu, Dick Tso Kin Nam; casting, Poping Auyeung, Nancy Foy. Reviewed at Variety Club screening room, San Francisco, April 9, 2008. (In AFI Dallas Film Festival.) MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 105 MIN.
(English, Mandarin dialogue)


http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/5886/1/

[dleedlee]

The Forbidden Kingdom
US/China. 2008. 113mins

Anticipated both for its Jackie Chan-Jet Li star pairing and its East-meets-West production approach, The Forbidden Kingdom attempts to put top-flight Asian martial arts together with family friendly fantasy in an English-language action adventure package. The elements of this well crafted and good-looking US/China co-production should attract sizeable and demographically broad audiences around the world. But the formulaic story and slightly calculated feel will make it hard for the independently distributed genre mashup to reach the box office heights achieved by some of the Hollywood majors' recent fantasy adventure offerings.

After its Beijing premiere this week, the Casey Silver/Huayi Brothers production (backed by Relativity Media) gets a wide, PG-13 release in the US on April 18 through Lionsgate and the Weinstein Co. That will give it a two week jump on the first of the similarly teen- and family-targeted summer blockbusters and should, at the very least, set up a lucrative video run later in the year.

The star pairing and genre mix will be especially attractive in the international marketplace, giving the film – distributed by Lionsgate or Weinstein in a handful of major territories and by local indies elsewhere – a fighting chance of competing with bigger studio releases over the crowded summer season.

The Asian thread of the script by John Fusco (Young Guns, Hidalgo) is based on the traditional Chinese legend of the Monkey King, but the story is told from the point of view of modern day American teen Jason (Angarano from Man In The Chair and Snow Angels).

Recalling elements of The Karate Kid, Lord Of The Rings and plenty of other quest adventures, the predictable plot has martial arts fan Jason magically transported back to ancient China and charged with freeing the Monkey King from the clutches of the Jade Warlord (Chou, from Flashpoint). Jason's companions are Chan's tipsy kung fu master Lu Yan, Li's straight-faced Silent Monk and pretty Golden Sparrow (Chinese pop and screen star Liu Yifei). Acting for the Warlord is the White Haired Demoness (Li Bing Bing, from The Knot).

American director Rob Minkoff (The Lion King, Stuart Little) steers the narrative with a steady if uninspired hand - one training montage may be obligatory in this sort of outing but a second seems a bit desperate - while Hong Kong martial arts master Woo-Ping Yuen (The Matrix, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) choreographs the action sequences.

The four or five big fight scenes have some nice settings and feature the kind of aerial ballet and precision footwork for which Woo-Ping is renowned. They're enhanced by special effects (mostly done in Korea) that are well up to par for a production with a reported budget of between $50m and $70m.

The fight scenes don't quite rise to the imaginative level of Woo-Ping's best work, though, and the significance and subtleties of the film's one head-to-head encounter between martial arts legends Chan and Li - for whom this is a first on-screen meeting – will probably be lost on general audiences.

Eye catching Chinese locations beautifully shot by Hong Kong cinematographer Peter Pau (another Crouching Tiger contributor) are another plus, but beyond its visual appeal the film is lacking in real substance. What character development there is follows strict genre guidelines and the comic potential in the difference between Chan's and Li's characters is rarely exploited.

As well as fighting technique, the two Asian superstars bring a lot of charisma to the proceedings, though they're hardly stretched dramatically. Angarano is very likeable as the misfit Jason and though his career so far has cast him more as an actor than a heartthrob his presence should help attract (female and male) teen moviegoers.

With its mix of Chinese and American talent, money and expertise, The Forbidden Kingdom is being billed as representing a middle way between two schools of film-making. As such, it will certainly help improve relations between two vital national industries. As a movie, however, it ends up feeling a little too much like a compromise.

Director
Rob Minkoff

Production companies/backers
Casey Silver Productions (US)
Relativity Media (US)
Huayi Brothers (China)

US distribution
Lionsgate/The Weinstein Co

International distribution
The Weinstein Co/Lionsgate/Relativity
(1) 310 859 1250

Producer
Casey Silver

Executive producers
Ryan Kavanaugh
Woo-Ping Yuen
Wang Zhongjun
Jon Feltheimer
Raffaella De Laurentiis

Screen play
John Fusco

Action choreographer
Woo-Ping Yuen

Director of photography
Peter Pau

Production design
Bill Brzeski

Editor
Eric Strand

Music
David Buckley

Main cast
Jackie Chan
Jet Li
Michael Angarano
Liu Yifei
Collin Chou
Li Bing Bing


http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyA ... ryID=38242